
Glass. 
Book. 



HISTOEY 

OF 

DELAWARE COUNTY, 

PENNSYLVANIA, 



FROM THE DISCOVERY OF THE TERRITORY INCLUDED WITHIN 
. ITS LIMITS TO THE PRESENT TIME, 



% Jfllia 0f ilu €c3lo|ii| of X\u (^Mm% 



CATALOGUES OF ITS MINERALS, PLAKTS, QUADRUPEDS AND BIRDS, 

to r i 1 1 e It 

UNDER THE DIRECTION AND APPOINTMENT OF THE DELAM'ARE COUNTY 
INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, 



OEOHGi: ©31 ITU, 3i:. r*. 



PHILADELPHIA : 
PRINTED BY HENRY B. ASH MEAD. 

Nos. 1102 AND 1104 Sansom Street. 
1862. 






Entered according to Act of Congress^ in the year 1862, by 

GEORGE SMITH, M. D., 

the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern 
District of Pennsylvania. 



\ 



H 



INTRODUCTION. 



The circumstances under which the author was induced 
to engage in the preparation of the work now submitted 
to the public, will be briefly explained. / . 

Many years since a resolution was adopted by the 
Delaware County Institute of Science, having in view the 
collection and preservation of manuscripts, printed docu- 
ments, traditions, or any other matter or thing calculated 
to illustrate the history of the County. A notice was 
published in the County papers, requesting persons in pos- 
session of the desired information, to place the documents 
containing it in the possession of the Institute. This re- 
quest was but very partially responded to, either by the 
members of the Institution, or by others. Still there were 
a few who took a deep interest in the subject. They 
plainly saw that many facts calculated to illustrate our 
early history had alreadj'- passed into oblivion, because no 
means had been adopted to collect and preserve them, and 
that if this important subject should be longer neglected, 
many more would soon be placed beyond our reach, by 
the decease of a number of intelligent persons, still hving, 
who were familiar with the stirring times and local events 
of our revolutionary struggle. 

Among those who took the deepest interest in the matter 
was Joseph Edwards, Esq., an active and intelligent member 
of the Institute. It was a subject in accordance with his 
taste, and he freely devoted his time and his vigorous 
intellect, in accomplishing the original object of the In- 
stitution. His reading was from this time more particularly 
directed to the various works that relate to the early set- 
tlements on the Delaware. Making himself familiar with 



INTRODUCTION. 



that subject, and being possessed of a considerable number 
of local facts, the idea occurred to him of putting the ma- 
terials in his possession into the. shape of a history of our 
County. The subject was accordingly brought by him 
before the Institute, and meeting with the approbation of 
the members present, it was at once placed in the hands 
of a committee, with the understanding that the whole 
labor of drawing up the history should devolve on Mr. 
Edwards. 

Circulars were now addressed to every person supposed 
to be in possession of facts or information calculated to 
add value to the work, but again the response was for the 
most part slow and unsatisfactory ; and the feeble health 
of Mr. Edwards did not permit him to engage in the 
laborious task of personally examining voluminous ancient 
records, and other manuscripts of vital importance to the 
work in question, and only to a very limited extent of elicit- 
ing from the aged of our County their recollections of by- 
gone times. 

Thus circumstanced, Mr. Edwards engaged energetically 
in the work, and, at the time his earthly career was so 
suddenly brought to a close, he had brought his narrative 
down to the commencement of Penn's government. The 
task of completing the work was imposed by the Institute 
upon the author, who assumed it as a duty he owed to his 
departed friend, as well as from a desire to place beyond 
contingency a multitude of local facts, that were to be 
found only in ancient manuscripts, many of which it was 
known were not in safe keeping, nor in a good state of 
preservation. 

When the appointment of the Institute was accepted, 
he had no idea that his labor would extend much beyond 
the completion of the narrative commenced by his friend, 
and he supposed that a large amount of the materials had 
already been collected for that purpose. He was aware 
that the manuscript of Mr. Edwards was too voluminous, 
and if used, would require some abridgment, but a careful 
examination of it soon satisfied him that it could not be 
used at all, as part of a work for which he was to be mainly 
responsible. It was discovered that Mr. Edwards in 



INTRODUCTION. V 

drawing up his narrative had labored under the disadvan- 
tage of not being in possession of all the important facts 
connected with his subject; that the authors upon which 
he relied were mostly compilers and frequently incorrect, 
and in addition, his narrative was so very voluminous, 
that the labor of abridging it would be greater than that 
of re-writing the whole. It was painful to the author to 
exclude the whole of the manuscript of Mr. Edwards, but 
he is happy in having the opinion of one of his most intel- 
ligent relatives, that the course adopted was proper and 
judicious. 

It thus became necessary to enter upon a thorough ex- 
amination of every work having a bearing upon the his- 
tory of the territory embraced within our County, from 
the time it first became known to Europeans. This has 
been the most pleasing part of the labor. But it was soon 
found that the most interesting facts connected with the 
early history of the County were scattered through the 
voluminous manuscript records of the Society of Friends ; 
the records of our early Courts, and other records df the 
County, now in the offices at West Chester ; the records 
in the Surveyor-General's office at Harrisburg, and in the 
several offices of the city of Philadelphia. These have 
been carefully examined so far as they relate to early 
times ; and although their examination required the expen- 
diture of much time and labor, the reward "has been so 
ample, that it Inay now be safely said, that no history of 
the County would have been worthy of the name which 
did not embrace the numerous local facts derived from 
these sources. 

It will also be seen that the unpublished records at 
Albany, N. Y., and those at New Castle, in the State of 
Delaware, have been examined with the view of ascer- 
taining as many local facts as possible connected with the 
settlements on the Delaware, prior to the establishment of 
the government of William Penn. These examinations, 
though not so prolific of new facts as that of our own re- 
cords, it will be observed, have not been by any means 
fruitless. 

The examination of these records made the author 



INTRODUCTION. 



familiar with most of the early settlers embraced within 
the limits of our County ; where they lived, how they 
lived, and from whence they came. This gave rise to the 
idea of the map that exhibits the County as it was at the 
time of its first settlement, or shortly afterwards, and also 
suggested the biographical notices which form an impor- 
tant feature of the work. This arrangement has had the 
effect of freeing the history of the County proper from 
much personal narrative and local description, and will, it 
is hoped, be a source of some satisfaction to many old 
families of the County, and to many who reside beyond 
our limits, but who can justly claim kindred here, and 
" have their claims allowed." Much labor has been ex- 
pended on this part of the work, and it is trusted not 
without a reasonable degree of success. Still the author 
has to regret, that in respect to some of the early immi- 
grant settlers, he has been able to learn little or nothing. 
This will account for the briefness and imperfection of 
some of the notices, and the entire omission of any notice 
of other pioneers in the settlement of the County. 

The multitude of local facts and circumstances that it 
appeared necessary to give in the language in which they 
are recorded, has given to a considerable portion of the 
work, very much the character of Annals. It hence be- 
came important to place at the head of each page, the date, 
as nearly as possible, of the events recorded on it, and on 
that account the formality of dividing the work into 
chapters has been dispensed with. 

The Geology of the County, and the Catalogue of its 
Flowering Plants and Ferns would have been contributed 
to the work by the present author, had the historical part 
of it been completed by Mr. Edwards. The Catalogue of 
our Mosses was kindly prepared by Dr. Thomas P. James, 
and that of the Quadrupeds and of the Birds by John 
Cassin, Esq., both natives of Delaware County, and both 
unsurpassed in the branches of the natural sciences to 
which their contributions respectively belong. 

To his long tried friend, Minshall Painter, the author 
is largely indebted for liberal and constant aid in the ex- 
amination of voluminous manuscripts, and for the contri- 



INTRODUCTION. VH 

bution of many local facts. He is also under great obli- 
gations to Thomas Darlington, Dr. William Darlington, 
Joseph J. Lewis, John H. Brinton, Adis M. Ayers, Walter 
Hibbard, Jonathan Cope, and Gilbert Cope, of Chester 
County ; to the late Samuel Breck, Samuel Hazard, Pro- 
fessor John F. Frazer, and Samuel L. Smedley, of Phila- 
delphia ; to Thomas Dutton, Elijah Brooke, George G. 
Leiper, Robert Frame, Robert Thomas, John M. Broomall, 
Jacob S. Serrill, Joshua P. Eyre, Charles Johnson, and 
James M. Willcox, of Delaware County, and to many 
others, for the aid they have severally rendered by contri- 
buting documents, or by communicating important facts. 



Upper Darby, Delaware Co., 
November 1, 1862. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Map of Delaware County, to face title page. 

Map of the Early Settlements of Delaware County, .... last page. 
A part of Roggeveen's Map of New Netherland, .... page 18 

Diagram of Chester, pr. R. Long, C. Pusey, James Sanderlands, and 

others, ........... 

Residence of Caleb Pusey at Chester Mills, . . ... 

Diagram of a line run due West, preparatory to ascertaining the 

Western boundary of a tract of land purchased from the Indians 

in 1685, . . ' 

First Meeting-house of Friends- at Chester, 

Friends' Meeting-house, Haverford, built 1700, rebuilt 1800, 

View of St. Paul's Church, Chester, built 1703, 

Town Hall at Chester, built 1724, 

Head Quarters of Gen. Washington, at the Battle of Brandywine 

" " of Marquis de La Fayette, " " 

Section of the Delaware River, including Fort Mifflin, 
Haverford College, ..... 

Public Buildings at Media, . . 

Delaware County Alms House, . 

Upland, ....... 

Burd Orphan's Asylum of St. Stephen's Church 
Kellyville, ...... 

View of Media from the South-west, . 

Friends' Meeting-houses at Springfield. 

Birth place of Benjamin West, . 

St. David's Church, built 1717, . 

Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble-minded Children 

Catholic Church of St. Thomas, Aston, 

Castle Rock, from the North, 

Geological Map of Delaware County, 

Exposure of Trap with Diallage or Anthophyllite 

Autograph Signatures (3 pages), 

Fac Simile from the Ledger of Richard Hayes, 

Autograph Letter of David Lloyd, 

" " of Jacob Taylor, . 

" " of Benjamin West. 

Draft of the first settled part of Chester, . 



138 
147 



170 
188 
201 
208 
234 
305 
310 
321 
358 
375 
376 
380 
386 
387 
388 
390 
390 
396 
399 
400 
401 
403 
410 
442 
467 
480 
506 
513 
543 



HISTORY OF DELA^^r^RE COUNTY. 



In giving an account of the first settlement by Europeans, of 
any part of America, it has been customary with writers to pre- 
cede their narratives by a detailed history, not only of the events 
that were then transpiring in the Old World, but of every event 
that had occurred for a century or more previously, having the 
least possible bearing, upon the settlement in question. As the 
history of a district of country so limited in extent as that of 
Delaware County, must derive its chief value from the number 
of local facts it may present, the transatlantic events that led 
to its settlement in common with that of larger districts of our 
country, will only be briefly adverted to. 

More than a century had elapsed, from the time of the dis- 
covery of the Western Continent by the Cabots, before the noble 
river that forms the south-eastern boundary of our County, be- 
came known to Europeans. The first settlement of Virginia 
was commenced at Jamestown in the year 1607. Two years 
later, the celebrated English navigator Henry Hudson, after 
having made two unsuccessful voyages in the employ of London 
merchants, in search of a northern passage to the East Indies, 
entered the service of the Dutch East India Company, and with 
the same object in view, made his celebrated voyage that resulted 
in the discovery of the great New York river, that most justly 
bears his name. Sailing from Amsterdam on the 4th of 
April, 1609, in a yacht called the Half-Moon, he doubled North 
Cape with the object of reaching Nova Zembla. In this he was 
foiled by reason of the dense fogs and the large bodies of ice he 
encountered, when, changing his original plan, he directed his 
course with the view of discovering a north-west passage to China. 
He arrived off the banks of Newfoundland in July, and continu- 
ing his course westwardly, after some delay on account of dense 
fogs, entered Penobscot bay on the coast of Maine. Here Captain 
Hudson had friendly intercourse with the natives of the country, 
and after having repaired the damage his little vessel had sus- 
tained, he pursued his course southerly in search, it is said, of a 
1 



2 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1610. 

passage to the Western Pacific Ocean, which he had formerly 
learned from his friend Captain John Smith, had an existence, 
"south of Virginia." Halting a second time at Cape Cod, he 
observed in possession of the Indians who treated him kindly, 
" green tobacco and pipes, the bowls of which were made of clay, 
and the stems of red copper."^ 

The voyage of the Half-Moon was again continued south-west 
along the coast, until, on the 18th of August she arrived at the 
mouth of Chesapeake bay. If there was any truth in the rather 
improbable story, that Hudson pursued this south-west course, in 
search of a passage to the Pacific, south of Virgiriia, he certainly 
abandoned his plan ; for, without much delay, he revei'sed his 
course, making a more particular examination of the coast as he 
passed along. On the 28th of August, 1609, in latitude thirty- 
nine degrees and five minutes north, Hudson discovered " a great 
bay," which, after having made a very careful examination of the 
shoals and soundings at its mouth, he entered ; but soon came to 
the over-cautious conclusion, that " he that will thoroughly/ dis- 
cover this great bay, must have a small pinnace, that must draw 
but four or five feet water, to sound before him."^ To this great 
bay the name of Delaware has been given in honor of Lord De- 
la-war, who is said to have entered it one year subsequently to 
the visit of Hudson.^ 

The examination of the Delaware bay by Hudson, was more 
after the manner of a careful navigator, than that of a bold ex- 
plorer in search of new lands, and scarcely extended beyond its 
mouth. It must have been very slight indeed, as we find that 
in further retracing his steps, he had descried the high lands 
of Navesink on the 2nd of September, four days after his 
entrance into the Delaw^are bay ; and on the 4th of that month, 
after having rounded a low " Sandy Hook," he discovered, " The 
Great North River of New Netherland" — a discovery that will 
transmit his name to the latest posterity. 

Though an Englishman, Hudson was in the employ of the 
Dutch, and his visit to the Delaware, however transient it may 
have been, is rendered important from the fact, that on it prin- 
cipally, if not wholly, rested the claim of that government to the 
bay and river, so far as it was based on the ground of prior dis- 
covery. This claim is now fully conceded ; for although the bay 
was known in Virginia by its present name as early as 1612, no 
evidence exists of its discovery by Lord Delaware or any other 

1 Hist. New Netherland, i. 34. 

2 Journal of the voyage by Robert Juet, the mate of Hudson,— iV^. Y. Hist. Col. vol. 
i. 130, 131,— also, ib. N. S. i. 320. 

3 So far as a negative can be proven, Mr. Broadhead in his History of N. Y. has 
made it appear that Lord Delaware never saw the bay that bears his name. See p. 51, 
and Appendix, note D, of that work. 



1614.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. ' 3 

Englishman prior to 1610, when it is said, that navigator 
"touched at Delaware bay on his passage to Virginia."^ 

An oflScial Dutch document,^ drawn up in 1644, claims that 
New Netherland " was visited by inhabitants of that country in 
the year 1598," and that "two little forts were built on the 
South and North rivers." Better authority is needed to support 
this claim, than the assertion of an interested party made nearly 
half a century subsequent to the event. 

Though reasonable doubts may exist in respect to the visit of 
Lord Delaware to the Delaware bay, that bay in 1610 did actually 
receive a transient visit from Captain Samuel Argall, who pro- 
bably was the first European that entered its waters after its 
discovery by Hudson.^ 

The various names by which the Delaware river and bay have 
been known, are enumerated in Hazard's Annals of Pennsylva- 
nia.^ By the Indians it was called, "Pautaxat, Mariskitton and 
Makerish-kisken, Lenape Whittuck ; by the Dutch, Zuyt or South 
river, Nassau river, Prince Hendrick river, and Charles river ; by 
the Swedes, New Swedeland stream ; by the English, Delaware. 
Heylin in his Cosmography calls it Arasapha. The bay has also 
been known as New Port May and Crodyns hay. 

Six years now intervene, before we have any further accounts 
of discoveries in " New Netherland," a country, which in the 
estimation of Their High Mightinesses, The States General 
of Holland, embraced the Delaware bay and river. On the 
27th of March, in the year 1614, a general charter was 
granted, securing the exclusive privilege of trade during four 
voyages, with "any new courses, havens, countries or places," 
to the discoverer, and subjecting any persons who should act in 
violation thereof, to a forfeiture of their vessel, in addition to a 
heavy pecuniary penalty.^ Stimulated by this edict of the States 
General, the merchants of Amsterdam fitted out five vessels to 
engage in voyages, in pursuance of its provisions. Among them 
was the Fortune belonging to the city of Hoorn, commanded by 
Captain Cornelis Jacobson Mey. Captain Adrian Block com- 
manded another vessel of this exploring party, which was 
unfortunately burnt upon his arrival at the mouth of the " Man- 
hattan river." To repair this misfortune. Captain Block imme- 
diately engaged in the construction of a new vessel — a yacht, 
44i feet long, and 11|^ feet wide. This craft was of but 16 tons 
burden, and was named the Unrust (Restless.) She was the first 
vessel built by Europeans in this country, and her construction, 

1 N. Y. Hist. Col. i. N. S. 320. 

2 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 149 ; Hist. New Netherland, i. Appendix E, 418. 

3 Broadhead's Hist. N. Y. SI and note D. * P. 4. 
5 N. Y. Col. Doe. i. 5. 



4 ' HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1616. 

under the circumstance, savors more of a Yankee proceeding 
than any event in the history of New Netherland. 

The Fortune^ commanded by Skipper Mey, alone proceeded 
southerly. The coast, with its numerous inlets and islands, was 
examined and mapped as he went along, until he reached the 
mouth of the Delaware bay, to the two proper capes of which 
he appropriated two of his names ; calling the one Cornelis, the 
other Mey. To a cape still further south he gave the name of 
Hindlopen, after a town of Friesland.^ All the vessels except 
the Restless, now returned to Holland, to make a report of their 
discoveries, and to claim the exclusive privileges of trade, to 
which, under the general charter granted by the States General, 
their owners would be entitled. By an edict dated on the 
14th of October, 1614, this monopoly of trade was granted to 
the united company of merchants of the cities of Amsterdam and 
Hoorn, by whose means the expedition had been fitted out. It 
was limited, however, to " newly discovered lands, situate in 
America, between Ne^v France and Virginia, whereof the sea 
coasts lie between the fortieth and forty -fi.fth degrees of latitude, 
now named New Netherland," and was to extend to four voyages, 
to be made within three years from the 1st of January. It will 
be seen that the Delaware bay is not included in this grant, a 
circumstance that would suggest that the discoveries in that 
quarter by Skipper Mey, had not been appreciated. 

Captain Cornelis Hendrickson, who had been left in command 
of the American built vessel Restless, now proceeded to make 
further explorations, and especially on the Delaware bay. It 
has even been said that this expedition explored the river as high 
up as the mouth of the Schuylkill, the discovery of which is 
credited to Captain Hendrickson.^ If this be correct, the crew 
of the Restless were the first civilized men who visited the terri- 
tory now embraced within the limits of Delaware County. The 
extent of the discoveries made by the worthy captain, can, in a 
measure, be judged of by his report made to the States General, 
on behalf of his employers. 

"Report of Captain Cornelis Hendrixz" of Munnickendam to 
the high and mighty Lords States General of the Free United 
Netherland Provinces, made on the XVIIP'' August, Ao. 1616, 
of the country, bay and three rivers, situate in the latitude 
from 38 to 40 degrees, by him discovered and found for and to 
the behoof of his owners and Directors of New Netherland, by 
name Gerrit Jacob Witsen, Burgomaster at Amsterdam, Jonas 
Witsen, Lambreht Van Tweenhuyzen, Palas Pelgrom and others 
of their company." 

1 Hist. New Netherland, i. 73. 

2 Haz. Ann. 7; Broadhead's Hist. N. Y. 79. 



1620.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 5 

" First^ he hath discovered for his aforesaid Masters and 
Directors, certain lands, a bay and three rivers situate between 
88 and 40 degrees." 

" And did there trade with the inhabitants ; said trade con- 
sisting of sables, furs, robes and other skins." 

" He hath found the said country full of trees, to wit : oaks, 
hickory and pines ; which trees, were in some places covered with 
vines." 

" He hath seen in said country, bucks and does, turkeys and 
partriges." 

" He hath found the climate of said country very temperate, 
judging it to be as temperate as this country, Holland." 

" He also traded for and bought from the inhabitants, the 
Minguas, three persons, being people belonging to this company, 
which three persons were employed in the service of the Mohawks 
and Machicans ; giving for them kettles, beads and merchandise." 

"Read August 19th, 1616."^ 

It cannot be fairly inferred from this report, that the Schuyl- 
kill was one of the three rivers discovered by Captain Hendrick- 
son, and the original " Carte Figurative,"^ found attached to the 
memorial of his employers, presented on the day before the re- 
port was made, furnishes almost conclusive evidence that the 
voyage of the Restless did not extend even to the mouth of the 
Delaware river. The refusal of the States General, to grant 
the trading privileges to these applicants, which in justice could 
not be withheld from the discoverers of " any new courses, 
havens, countries or places," furnishes additional proof that the 
discoveries made in the Restless did not go much beyond what 
had been previously made. If any knowledge of the Delaware 
or Schuylkill rivers was acquired on this occasion, it was proba- 
bly obtained from the three persons belonging to the company, 
purchased from the Indians, or from the Indians themselves. 

In anticipation of the formation of a Dutch West India 
Company, exclusive trading privileges were not again granted 
under the general charter of 1614, except in a few instances and 
to a very limited extent. The trade to New Netherland, regard- 
ed by the Dutch as extending beyond the Delaware, was thrown 
open, in a measure, to individual competition. This did not last 
long, for on the 3rd of June, 1621, the West India Company 
was incorporated. It did not, however, go into operation until 
1623. 

Thus far, trade, and new discoveries for the purpose of extend- 
ing trade, appear to have wholly engrossed the attention of the 
Dutch. This year a ])roposition is made by the Directors of the 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 13. 

2 For a copy of this '" Carte Figurative," see N. Y. Col. Doc. i. facing p. 13. 



6 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1621. 

New Netherland trading company, for the emigration to America 
of " a certain English preacher/ versed in the Dutch language," 
then residing in Leyden, together with over four hundred fami- 
lies both out of Holland and England, whom he assured the 
petitioners, he had the means of inducing to accompany him 
thither. The petitioners also asked that two ships of war might 
be provisionally dispatched "for the preservation of the country's 
rights, and that the aforesaid minister and the four hundred 
families, might be taken under the protection of the government ; 
alledging that his Majesty of G-reat Britain would be disposed 
to people the aforesaid lands with the English nation." After 
considerable delay, this petition was rejected.^ 

On the 28th of September of this year, and during the 
time that elapsed between the incorporation of the Dutch 
West India Company and the time it commenced its commercial 
operations, the States General granted certain parties permission 
to dispatch " two ships with all sorts of permitted merchandise, 
the one to the aforesaid New Netherland, and the other to the 
aforesaid N^ew river, lying in latitude between eight and thirty 
and forty degrees, and to the small rivers thereon depending, to 
trade away and dispose of their old stock, ivhich they have there, 
and afterwards bring back into this country their goods, cargoes, 
clerks and seamen, on condition that they must be home before 
the 1st of July, 1622."^ 

The New river mentioned in the foregoing extract, was un- 
doubtedly the Delaware ; and it might be inferred from the per- 
mission asked in respect to the old stock, ^c, that a trading post 
had been established by the Dutch on the Delaware, prior to this 
date. There are many facts to show that such a conclusion would 
be erroneous, and that the Dutch had no trading establishment 
on that river at this time. 

At the instance of the British Government, Sir Dudley Carle- 
ton their Ambassador at the Hague, entered upon an investi- 
gation of certain charges made against the Hollanders, of having 
left " a Colonic" at, and of " giving new names to several ports 
appertaining to that part of the countrie north of Virginia" called 
by them " New England."^ 

In the prosecution of this investigation,^ which was rather of 
a private and informal character, thp Ambassador could not 
make " any more of the matter but that about fewer or five years 
since, two particular conpanies of Amsterdam merchants, began 

1 This preacher was the Rev. Mr. Robinson. Some of the families alluded to em- 
barked at Delft in the May Flower and Speedwell on the 16th of July, 1620, and 
though they were destined for the Hudson, they landed at Plymouth, and became the 
renowned Colony of Pilgrims. 

2 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 22-24. 

3 lb, 27. * lb. iii. 6. 5 lb. 7. 



1623.] ■ HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 7 

a trade into these parts between 40 and 45 degrees, to vf"^ after 
their manner thej gave their own names New Netherlands, a 
South and a North sea, a Texel, a blieland and the like ; 
whither they have ever since continued to send shipps of 30 
and 40 lasts,^ at the most to fetch furres, w*''' is all their trade; 
for the providing of w*"'' they have certain factors there con- 
tinually residents trading, w**" savages, and at this present 
there is a ship at Amsterdam, bound for those parts, but I can- 
not learn of anie Colonic eyther already planted there by 
these people, or so much as intended." The letter of the 
Ambassador communicating this information to the British 
Government, is dated on the 5th of February, 1621. Sir Dudley 
gives as an additional reason, why he arrived at the conclusion, 
that the Dutch had not as yet planted a colony, that divers in- 
habitants of this country (Holland,) had been suters to him to 
procure them " a place of habitation amongst his Ma*'"^ subjects 
in those parts," suggesting the improbability of these people 
desiring to mingle among strangers, and to be under their govern- 
ment, if they had settlements of their own. 

He did not fail, however, to present to the States General, on 
behalf of his government, a remonstrance against further com- 
merce, by the Dutch, with the country in question, and to lay 
before their High Mightinesses, the British claim thereto by right 
of first occupation, (jurge primge occupationis.)^ 

This proceeding of the British Government was intended to 
prevent their rights from being lost, rather than to enforce any 
immediate claim. It was so regarded by the Dutch Government, 
and particularly so by the West India Company, which now, 
after having secured an amplification of their privileges, and 
completed their preliminary arrangements, proceeded at once, to 
carry out the very measures that had been so recently protested 
against by the British Ambassador. They extended the com- 
merce of the country, by building up establishments with the 
view of securing its title to their government, and its trade to 
themselves — the latter being always a paramount consideration 
with the company. 

The West India Company, having by virtue of their charter,^ 
taken possession of the country, they dispatched the ship New 
Netlierland with a number of peOple thereto, under the direction 
of Captains Cornells Jacobson Mey, and Adriaen Joriz Tienpont. 
Mey proceeded to the Delaware or South river, on the eastern 
bank of which, fifteen leagues from its mouth, he erected fort 

1 A last is nearly equal to two tons when applied to ships ; when applied to the 
measure of grain, is equal to 80 English bushels. 

'^ N. Y. Col. Doc. iii.8. 

3 For a translation of the charter at length, see Hist. New Netherland, Appendix B j 
Hazard's Historical Collections, i. 121-131. 



8 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1624. 

Nassau at a place called by the natives Tecliaacho, — supposed 
to be near the mouth of little Timber creek in Gloucester County, 
N. Jersey, and a short distance below the present town of Glou- 
cester.^ TherO is some discrepancy as to the precise date of the 
erection of this fort, but the year 1624 is specified in an official 
report^ on the condition of the country, made in 1644, and may 
be regarded as the best authority on the subject. The distinc- 
tion, at all events, belongs to Captain Mey of being the first 
European to establish a settlement on the Delaware,^ if the 
erection of this fort, — a mere trading post, abandoned from time 
to time, as occasion required — can be regarded as a settlement. 

The seat of government of New Netherland was located at 
Manhattan Island, now the site of the City of New York, 
and the superior local officer of the government was styled a 
Director. Shortly after the commencement of the administration 
of its affairs by the West India Company, this office was con- 
ferred on Peter Minuit or Minewit, of Wesel in the Kingdom of 
Westphalia, who arrived at Manhattan Island in one of two ships 
dispatched by the Amsterdam department of the West India 
Company, in 1624. He w^as assisted in his government by a 
council of five members and a " Scout Fiscal," whose duties em- 
braced those now usually performed by a sheriff and district 
attorney. The authority vested in the Director and his council 
was ample, being executive, legislative and judicial, and extended 
to the South as well as the North river. The records of the 
government, or of the company, give very little information in 
respect to the administration of Minuit. It lasted till 1632, and 
is supposed to have been generally successful. It is distinguished 
by no remarkable event, except the purchase of Manhattan 
Island from the Indians, which happened in 1626.* The title to 
this Island, now the site of the City of New York, and estimated 
to contain 22,000 acres, was acquired for the paltry sum of sixty 
guilders or 24 dollars. This purchase is important as probably 
indicating a period when the policy of the Dutch underwent a 
change ; when from having been merely Indian traders, they 
began to contemplate a permanent settlement of the country. 

The commencement of the Directorship of Minuit, is fixed by 
Wassenaer in his history of Europe, (Amsterdam, 1621 to 1632,)'^ 

1 Edward Armstrong Esq., in a paper read before the New Jersey Historical Society, 
January 20, 1858, locates Fort Nassau on a tongue of land between Big and Little Tim- 
ber creeks. 

2 N. Y. Col Doc. i. 149. 

3 Statement of Mattehoorn, an Indian chief. N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 597. 
* N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 37. 

^ For a translation of the " description and lirst settlement of New Netherland" from 
that work, see Documentary Hist. N. Y, by E. B. O'Callaghan, M.D. iii. 27-48. 
The author says Peter Minuit, came out in the Sea Gull which arrived 4th May, 
1626, and "now sends for his wife thither." 



1624.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 9 

in the year 1626, and he assigns him two predecessors in that 
office, viz : Willem Van Ilulst for the year 1625, and Cornelis 
May for the year 1624. These men in conjunction with Adrien 
Joriz Tienpont appear, however, to have been merely directors 
of an expedition, and it would seem that the government of the 
country, of which the territory embraced within the limits of our 
little county in the estimation of the Dutch constituted a part, 
commenced with the administration of Minuit. 

It is a circumstance worthy of note, that the party who erected 
fort Nassau was accompanied by females. The fact is fully 
established by the following curious deposition^ of Catelina 
Tricho, said to have been the first white woman at Albany. 

" New York, February 14th, 1684-5. 

" The Deposition of Catelina Tricho aged fouer score yeares 
or thereabouts, taken before the right hono^^" Collo. Thomas 
Leu', and Governour under his Roy^^ high^^ James Duke of 
Yorke and Albany, etc. of N. York and its Dependencyes in 
America, who saith and declares in the pr'sens of God as follow- 
eth." 

" That she came to this Province either in the yeare one thou- 
sand six hundred and twenty three or twenty fouer to the best of 
her remembrance, an that fouer women came along with her in 
the same shipp, in which the Governo' Arien Jorissen came also 
over, which fouer women were married at Sea, and that they and 
their husbands stayed about three weeks at- this place, and then 
they with eight seamen more went in a vessel by ord''^ of the 
Dutch Governo'', to Delaware river and there settled. This I 
Certifie under my hand and y^ Scale of this province." 

" Tho. Dongan." 

In the deposition of the same lady taken a few years after- 
wards (1688,) she states that " two families and eight men" were 
sent to the Delaware. This effort at a settlement on the Dela- 
ware was soon abandoned — probably before the expiration of a 
single year. As Wassanaer under the date of 1625, says, " The 
fort at the South river is already vacated, in order to strengthen 
the Colony (at Manhattan.) For purposes of trade, only one 
yacht is sent there in order to avoid expense."^ It is not re- 
markable that this policy should have been adopted, as the whole 
colony at Manhattan, at this period, scarcely numbered two 
hundred souls. The fort was abandoned to the Indians, who 
did not fail to occupy it as their occasions required ; and the 
country again passed into their possession as completely as it 
was on the day Hudson touched at the Capes. 

1 Documentary Hist. N. Y. iii. 49. ^ lb. 45. 



10 HISTOEY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1629. 

Gustavus Adolphus, the reigning monarch of Sweden, through 
whose wisdom and valor that nation had acquired an elevated 
standing among the governments of Europe, now sought to con- 
fer still further benefits upon his country by extending its com- 
merce. Chiefly with this view, a charter was granted by him 
for a Stvedish West India Company} This company, which 
Avas to go into operation on the 1st of May, 1627, and to con- 
tinue twelve years, had every necessary power conferred upon it 
for the establishment of a colony, with the promised aid of the 
government, to a very liberal extent. William Usselinex, a 
native of the low countries, represented as having spent much 
time in seeking out new ports, and as being "the inventor in 
Holland of the West India Company," had counselled and ad- 
vised the adoption of the measure, and was to have a share in its 
management. 

While these proceedings were in progress, the war in Germany 
in which Gustavus became so largely engaged, postponed for a 
time the project of Swedish colonization in America : and his 
death which happened in 1632, would have led to a total aban- 
donment of the scheme, but for the persevering energy of his 
renowned minister Oxenstiern. 

Seventeen years had now elapsed since the discovery of the 
country by Hudson, and yet but little had been accomplished to- 
wards making it a permanent home for civilized man. The 
whole population of Manhattan the seat of government, at this 
period, was two hundred and seventy souls, consisting chiefly of 
the oflicers and servants of the company with their families.^ 
But few others resided elsewhere on the Hudson, and as has been 
shown, no permanent establishment of any kind was maintained 
on the Delaware. The trade of the country was, however, by no 
means inconsiderable, the Delaware contributing a fair propor- 
tion of it. The ship that carried to the "Fatherland" the news 
of the purchase of Manhattan from the Indians, was freighted 
with 7246 beaver skins, 853| otter skins, 81 mink skins, 36 
wild cat skins, and 34 rat skins, besides a considerable quantity 
of oak and hickory timber.^ But this was chiefly Indian trade 
— a trade that must necessarily diminish in proportion to the 
vigor with which it was prosecuted. 

Foreseeing this, and with the more prosperous colonies of the 
English on either side of them, the settlement of the country 
was determined upon by the Dutch as the only means by which 
it could be saved from passing into other hands, while its trade 
at the same time would be augmented. 

1 For a translation into Englisli of this Charter, see Haz. Ann. 16, &c. 

2 Wassenaer in Documentary Hist. N. Y. iii. 48. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 37. 



1630.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 11 

With the view of promoting colonization, a plan not one step 
in advance of the prejudices of the times, was resolved upon. 
The privileged West India Company adopted certain articles 
termed " Freedoms and Exemptions to all such as shall plant 
colonies in New Netherland."^ Under this scheme the feudal 
tenure of lands was to be introduced into America south of 
Canada, where settlements on an analagous plan had already 
commenced. 

The wealthy immigrant who could in four years plant a colony 
of fifty souls, would be a "Patroon;" becoming the absolute 
owner of a vast tract of land, which if situated only on one side 
of a river, might have a front of 16 miles, but if on both sides, 
one half that front, and extending " so far into the country as 
the situation of the occupiers will permit." The Patroon could 
hold courts of justice, and when the amount in litigation did not 
exceed $20, there was no appeal from his judgment. 

The company also agreed to use their endeavors for a time, 
" to supply the colonists with as many blacks as they convenient- 
ly can, on conditions hereafter to be made."^ 

Previous to the ratification of this document by the States 
General, or even by the West India Company, two of its Amster- 
dam directors, Samuel Godyn and Samuel Blomaert, by their 
agents in this country, had purchased a large tract of land at 
the mouth of the Delaware bay. This grant was confirmed to the 
purchasers by Peter Minuit, the Director, and his council on the 
" Island Manahatas" the 16th of July, 1630 — the savage grantors 
being then and there present. The land embraced in the grant, 
thus confirmed, was " situate on the south side of the aforesaid 
bay of the South river, extending in length from C. Hinlopen 
ofi" into the mouth of the aforesaid South river, about eight 
leagues and half a league in breadth into the interior, extending 
to a certain marsh or valley through which these limits can be 
clearly enough distinguished."^ Samuel Godyn had previously 
given notice of his intention to make the above purchase, and to 
occupy the bay of the South river as Patroon, on the conditions 
set forth in the "Freedoms and Exemptions." Meeting with 
David Pieterszen DeVries of Hoorn, "a bold and skilful seaman," 
who had been " a master of artillery in the service of the United 
Provinces," he made him acquainted with the design of himself 
and associates, of forming a colony. The bay of the South 

1 Hist. New Netherland, i. 112, or N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S- i. 369, for the entire 
document. 

2 Slaves were introduced into New Netherland as early as 1628. In a letter recently- 
discovered dated at the Island of Manhattan, on the 11th of August of that year, from 
the Rev. Jonas Michaelius, the writer says, "the Angola slaves are thievish, lazy and 
useless trash." For a translation of this letter by Mr. Henry C. Murphy, see N. Y. 
Col. Doc. ii. Appendix, 768. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 43. 



12 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1631. 

river was held up to De Vries, as a point at which a whale fishery 
could be profitably established, as Godyn represented, that there 
were many whales which kept before the bay, and the oil at 60 
guilders a hogshead, he thought, would realize a good profit.^ 
DeVries declining to accept a subordinate position in connection 
with the colony, he was at once admitted, on perfect equality, 
into a company of Patroons, who associated themselves together 
on the 16th of October, 1630. Besides Godyn, Bloemart 
and DeVries, the members composing this Patroonship were 
Killian Van Renssellaer, Jan DeLaet, Matthys Van Keulen, 
Nicholas Van Sittorigh, Harnick Koeck and Heyndrick Hamel, 
being all directors of the West India Company except DeVries. 
All of the expected advantages were to be equalized; and DeVries 
who had charge of the establishment of the colony, dispatched 
from the Texel on the 12th of December, 1630, a ship and a 
yacht for the South river, " with a number of people, and a large 
stock of cattle," the object being, " as well to carry on a whale 
fishery in that region, as to plant a colony for the cultivation of 
all sorts of grain, for which the country is very \^ell adapted, 
and of tobacco."^ 

De Vries did not accompany this expedition as has been sup- 
posed by most writers on the subject, but on the 20th of the 
month he learned that the yacht had been " taken by the Dun- 
kirkers" before leaving the Texel, owing to the carelessness of 
the large ship which had sailed after the yacht. The large ship 
which was commanded by a Captain Peter Heyes of Edam, pro- 
ceeded on the voyage alone, but failing in an important object 
of it, " the disembarking of a lot of people at Tortugas," returned 
to Holland in September 1631. The ship conveyed the colony 
to the "South river in New Netherland," but was unsuccessful 
in the whale fishery, the captain alleging, "that he arrived 
there too late in the year," though he brought home a sample of 
oil "from a dead whale found on the shore." 

" Swanendael" (Valley of Swans,) was the name given to the 
tract of land purchased for the accommodation of the Colony, 
and had its greatest length parallel with the shore of the bay. 
The date of the arrival of Captain Heyes, with his colonists is 
not known ; but allowing the usual time occupied in making a 
passage, from the 12th of December, 1630, it may be arrived 
at with sufiicient accuracy. On the 5th of May following. Skip- 
per Heyes, (Heysen) and Gillis Hosset, Commissary of the ship 
Walrus, for that appears to have been the name of the ship that 
brought out the colony, purchased of the Indians, " the rightful 
owners," a tract of land sixteen English miles square at Cape 
May, and extending sixteen miles on the bay. This purchase 

1 De Vries in N. Y. Hist. Col. iii. N. S. 16, 17. ^ ib. 16. 



1632.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 13 

was made for Messrs. Godyn & Bloemaert, and was duly reported 
and recorded at Manhattan on the 3rd of June following.^ At 
the date of this writing, the Walrus was in the South river, but 
must have sailed very shortly afterwards to arrive at Holland in 
September. A house, "well beset with palisades in place of 
breastworks," had been erected on the north-west side of Hoorn- 
kil, (Lewes creek,) a short distance from its mouth. It was 
called "Fort Optlandt," and appears to have served the Colony 
which consisted of thirty-two men, as a place of defence, a dwel- 
ling and a storehouse. This Colony, the most unfortunate that 
settled on the bay or river, was left under the charge of Gillis 
Hosset or Osset. 

On the 12th of February, 1632, we are informed by De 
Vries, that an agreement was again entered into, " to equip a 
ship and a yacht for the tvhale fisher^/ in which much profit had 
not been realized." A second voyage was especially urged by 
Samuel Godyn, and to render success more certain, it was re- 
solved, says De Vries, " that I myself should go as patroon and 
as commander of the ship and yacht, and should endeavor to be 
there in December, in order to conduct the whale fishery during 
the winter, as whales come in the winter and remain till March. "^ 

When this second whaling voyage had been determined upon, 
only the pecuniary disasters of the first were known to those 
concerned in it ; but before sailing out of the Texel, the loss of 
their little fort and the destruction of the whole Colony was com- 
municated to De Vries. 

Leaving the Texel on the 24th of May, and taking a 
very circuitous passage, De Vries did not enter the Delaware 
till the 5th of December. His first greeting was, " a whale 
near the ship!'' which made him anticipate ''''royal work — the 
whales so numerous — and the land so fine for cultivation." The 
explorations of the next day in the boat, revealed to them the 
melancholy spectacle, of the house of the former Colony, " almost 
burnt up," with the skulls and bones of their people, and the 
heads of the horses and cows which they had brought with them 
lying here and there about it ; but no Indians were to be seen. 
After some careful manoeuvering, De Vries secured the confi- 
dence of the Indians without risk to himself or his people. From 
one of these who was induced to remain on board of the yacht 
all night, on the 8th of December, De Vries learned the par- 
ticulars of the melancholy fate of the Colonists, which is here 
given in his own language. " He then showed us the place where 
our people had set up a column to which was fastened a piece of 
tin, whereon the arms of Holland were painted. One of their 

^ For this document in full, extracted from the Albany Records, see Haz. Ann. 25. 
2 N. Y. Hist. Col. iii. N. S. 16. 



14 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1632. 

chiefs took this off for the purpose of making tobacco pipes, not 
knowing that he was doing amiss. Those in command at the 
house made such an ado about it, that the Indians not knowing 
how it was, went away and slew the chief who had done it, and 
brought a token of the dead to the house, to those in command, 
who told them that they wished that they had not done it, that 
they should have brought him to them, as they wished to have 
forbidden him not to do the like again. They then went away, 
and the friends of the murdered chief, incited their friends— as 
they are a people like the Italians, who are very revengeful — to 
set about the work of vengeance. Observing our people out of 
the house, each one at his work, that there was not more than 
one inside, who was lying sick, and a large mastiff who was 
chained — had he been loose they would not have dared to ap- 
proach the house — and the man who had command, standing near 
the house, three of the stoutest Indians, who were to do the deed, 
bringing a lot of bear-skins with them to exchange, sought to 
enter the house. The man in charge went in with them to make 
the barter ; which being done he went to the loft where the stores 
lay, and in descending the stairs, one of the Indians seized an 
axe, and cleft his head so that he fell down dead. They also 
relieved the sick man of life ; and shot into the dog, who was 
chained fast, and whom they most feared, twenty-five arrows 
before they could dispatch him. They then proceeded towards 
the rest of the men, who were at their work, and going amongst 
them with pretensions of friendship, struck them down. Thus 
was our young Colony destroyed, causing us serious loss."^ 

This disaster has subjected Commissary Hossett to severe, 
but undeserved censure.^ The very object of setting up the pil- 
lar, was to make a display of Dutch sovereignty, and the reply 
made by Hossett to the Indians who brought in the evidence of 
the atonement that had been made for the removal of the national 
emblem which it bore, furnishes evidence that the display of his 
resentment, had not in any degree, been such as to justify a deed 
so horrid and revolting ; and as to the charge of a want of care 
in guarding the fort, it may be answered, that such a mode of 

1 Voyages of De Vries, N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. iii. 23. 

2 Benjamin Ferris, in his " History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware," 
says, " With respect to the aifair at Hoorn Creek, there can be but little doubt that 
Osset, the Dutch agent of De Vries, had wantonly, or for some trifling offence, killed 
an Indian chief; and that he and his companions lost their lives in consequence." 
This charge of murder against the Dutch Commissary is wholly gratuitous, not being 
supported by a single fact. It is even highly improbable; for such a charge would 
have furnished a far better excuse for the destruction of the colony, than the one given. 
It is true that De Vries, some years subsequently, attributed the loss of the colony to 
" some trifling acts of the Commander Gilet Oset," but he does not say a word that 
would imply a disbelief in the narrative of the Indian. In the ^'Representation of New 
Netherland, (N. Y. Hist. Col. ii. N. S. 281,) it is stated that "the Commissar/ 
there, very firmly insisted upon and demanded the head of the offenders," but De 
Vries is undoubtedly the best authority on the subject. See also, Haz. Reg. i. 4. 



1633.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 15 

retaliation could not have been anticipated hj any one. Besides 
there is undisputable evidence that Hossett possessed the confi- 
dence of several Directors of the West India Company, having 
been selected to make purchases of land for them from the 
Indians, on both the South and North rivers. 

De Vries did not for a moment, allow his presence of mind to 
forsake him. Being unable to punish the savages, he sought and 
obtained an interview with their chiefs, and at the cost of some 
duffels, bullets, hatchets and Nuremburg trinkets, ratified a treaty 
of peace with them. Some preparations Avere also made for the 
prosecution of the contemplated whale fishing. 

Lord Baltimore obtained his patent for Maryland this year, 
and but for the occupancy by the Dutch, that has been narrated, 
Delaware as a separate state would have had no existence. 

In furtherance of the object of his voyage, De Yries sailed up 
the Delaware on the 1st of January, 1633, to obtain beans from the 
Indians. He encountered a whale on the first day, at the mouth 
of the river, and " two large whales near the yacht," on the follow- 
ing day, which made him wish for the sloop and the harpooners 
which were lying at Swanendael. On the 5th of the month, the 
yacht arrived before "the little fort named Nassau." The fort 
was unoccupied except by Indians, who were assembled there to 
barter furs, but, De Vries " was in want of Turkish beans, and 
had no goods to exchange for peltries." He was advised by the 
Indians to enter Timmer kill,^ but he was at the same time 
cautioned by an Indian woman not to enter the kill entirely. 
This woman, after having been bribed by the present of a cloth 
garment, discovered the fact that the crew of an English sloop 
had been murdered, who had gone into Count Ernest's river.^ 
The story of this woman was confirmed by the appearance of some 
of the Indians dressed in English jackets. Thus placed on his 
guard, and by making the Indians believe that he had been 
made acquainted with their wicked designs through the agency 
of their own evil spirit, Manitoe, he was enabled on the 8th 
of the month to make a lasting peace with them, which was con- 
cluded with the usual Indian solemnities. Soon after this, some 
corn was obtained, and also some beavers. 

On the 10th at noon, they came to anchor at " Jaques Island," 
and on the day following in the evening " about half-a-mile above 
Minquas Kill.''^ Here they saw a whale six or seven times, 
which surprised them, as it was " seven or eight miles (Dutch) 
into fresh water." On the 13th at noon, they had arrived 

1 Said to be Cooper's creek. 

2 This sloop had been sent from Virginia to explore the river, the September pre- 
vious. De Vries' Voyages, N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. iii. 35. 

* Christina creek. 



16 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1633. 

at the ship at Swanendael, where they were greeted hy their 
friends, who in their absence had shot two whales, which yielded 
but little oil. 

On the 18th of January, goods were placed in the yacht, 
which again sailed up the river, but was frozen up in Wyngaert's 
kill from the 19th of January, till the 3rd of February. 
While here, they shot wild turkeys weighing from thirty to thirty- 
six pounds ! When they reached Eort Nassau, they found no 
Indians, the fort being evacuated, but as it had commenced to 
freeze again, and being apprehensive of danger, if frozen up 
where they were, they " hauled into a Jcilf over against the fort," 
where they remained eight days before the ice broke. The 
Indians soon made their appearance in unusually large numbers, 
for it turned out that a war was raging between the " Minquas 
who dwell among the English in Virginia," and the tribes on this 
river, one of which, De Vries calls Armewamen, and another 
Sankiekens. After having been subjected to very great danger 
from the Indians and floating ice, they returned again to the ship 
on the 20th, after an absence of a month. There was great 
rejoicing at their safe return, by those left at Swanendael, as 
" they did not imagine that we had been frozen up in the river, 
as no pilot or astrologer could conceive, that in the latitude from 
the thirty-eighth and a half to the thirty-ninth, such rapid run- 
ning rivers could freeze." 

Still in pursuit of supplies, but partly to gratify a little vanity 
in being the first of his countrymen to visit that country, he set 
sail for Virginia on the 6th of March. Here he met with an ex- 
ceedingly kind reception from the Governor, but after informing 
his Excellency that he came from South river, he was made 
acquainted with Lord Delaware's visit to the bay, and the English 
title thereto ; whereupon our worthy captain duly set forth the 
Dutch claim to the country, resting it on the establishment of 
Fort Nassau. " It was strange to the Governor, that he should 
have such neighbours and never heard of them." The Governor 
sent six goats by De Vries for the Governor at Fort Amsterdam, 
and after having purchased provisions, he returned to the whale 
fishery at Swanendael.^ 

During his absence, but seven whales had been caught, and 
they very poor ones, yielding but thirty-two cartels of oil. 
Seventeen had been struck, which svent to show that the bay was 
frequented by those creatures, but their poorness seemed to 
satisfy De Vries that the business would not be profitable. On 
the 14th of April, he sailed for Fort Amsterdam, (New 

1 Probably Hollander's creek. 

2 De Vries met with plenty of peach trees nearly in bloom on the James river — the 
"first he had seen on this coast. N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. iii. '64. 



1633.] HISTORY OF DELAAVARE COUNTY. 17 

York) on his return to Europe, leaving no Colony behind him, 
and the whole bay and river free from any European settlement. 
Under certain conditions, patroons were permitted to engage 
in the peltry trade, "at such places wdiere the Company have 
no factories,"^ and it cannot be doubted but this trade, in connec- 
tion with the whale fishery, had a paramount influence in the 
establishment of the ill fated colony at Swanendael. Still, there 
are reasons for believing that it was the intention of the Patroon 
owners to make it a permanent settlement, and this too in the 
face of the fact, that no females were carried out on either of the 
voyages. They were the owners of the soil — they sent out with 
their people, horses, cows, implements of husbandry and seeds ; 
and when they became the victims of savage cruelty, they were 
actually engaged in agricultural pursuits. Regarding, then. Fort 
Nassau as a mere trading post, and nothing more can be claimed 
for it, the unfortunate Colony at Swanendael may be held to be 
the first eff"ort of the white race to make a permanent settlement 
on the Delaware. 

As we go along, it will be necessary to note the changes in 
the government, to which the country embracing the territory now 
occupied by our little County Avas subjected. Director Minuit 
having been recalled during the past year, he was succeeded by 
Wouter Van Tiviller, who arrived at Fort Amsterdam in the 
spring of 1633 in one of the Company's ships, accompanied by 
104 soldiers, that being the first military force ever detailed for 
New Netberland.^ He was a near relative to the patroon, Van 
Rensselaer, and it is said, owed his appointment more to that 
circumstance than to any particular merit he possessed. 

On the 10th of April, 1633, Chancellor Oxensteirn revived 
the interest which had formerly existed in Sweden in respect to 
Colonies, in signing by authority of the crown, the proclamation 
that had been left unsigned by Gustavus Adolphus. The time 
for uniting with the Company was extended to the first of the 
next year, and William Usselinex appointed the first Director. 

Many authors have assumed that settlements were made by 
the Swedes on the Delaware, as early as 1631. No settlements 
were made on that river by the Swedes except by authority of 
their government. This well authenticated act of the renowned 
Swedish statesman, leaves no room for doubt on the subject. 

The trade in peltries, at this time, became very profitable, 
which induced the new Director to turn his attention to that 
species of trade on the Delaware. With the view of rendering it 
more secure to the West India Company, it is said he directed 
Arent Corsen, who had been appointed Commissary at Fort 

1 Article XV. Freedoms and Exemptions — Hist. New Netherlands i. 116. 

2 Hist. New Netherlands i. 142. 

2 



18 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1634. 



Nassau, to purchase from the Indians a tract of land situated on 
the Schuylkill, which purchase was accordingly made during the 
year 1633.^ 

As this is the first claim to land in our vicinity by virtue of a 
title acquired from the Indians, and as it comes to us under very 
suspicious circumstances, particularly as to the time of the pur- 
chase, a document that was executed many years afterwards in 
confirmation of that claim will be here given at length. 

"We, the undersigned, namely: Amattehooren Alibakinne, 
Sinques, Sachems over the district of country called Armenve- 
ruis,^ situate around and on the Schuylkill, declare well and truly 
to have sold to Arent Corsen, the Schuylkill and adjoining lands, 
for some goods, which were not fully paid to us, but as we are 
now fully satisfied therein, therefore, we, the above named 
sachems, do hereby fully and irrevocably, convey and cede the 
same, confirming the aforesaid sale, and are ready on all occa- 
sions to maintain and defend against all pretension and claim to 
be set up to it by whomsoever, etc. Thus done, and in testi- 
mony of the truth signed by us natives, in the presence of the 
undernamed witnesses. Done in Fort Beversreede in the South 
River of New Netherland. Signed, marked in this manner, 
thereby written."^ 

The unmeaning marks of the Indians, of which there are four 
besides those made by the three sachems, appended to this docu- 
ment, are omitted, and also those of the witnesses of whom two 
were of the council. It is also attested by J. Hudde. 

The above document, it will be seen, is witbout date ; but 
another paper,* somewhat similar in character, executed in 1651, 
that will be noticed hereafter, gives us to understand that the 
transaction occurred in 1648. Both documents were got up 
when spirited controversies existed between the Swedes and 
Dutch, and may be safsly regarded as attempts to patch up an 
Indian title to lands by the latter, that would ante date any 
claim set up by the Swedes. 

The extreme jealousy of the West India Company, lest any 
one should share with them, in the smallest degree, the trade of 
New Netherland, led to fierce disputes with patroons still residing 
in Holland. The different inteipretations put on the charter of 
the company, and on the privileges granted by them to the 
patroons, w^ere well calculated to widen the breach between the 

1 N Y. Col. Doe. i. 588. 

2 Armenveruis, on the Dutch map, is located on the Jersey side of the river, near 
Fort Nassau. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 693. 

* lb. 598. This purchase of land on the Schuylkill by Corsen, is referred to in 
Hudde's Heport. He gives the date of the transaction confirming the purchases, as 
June 10th, 1648. 



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Bowtn. it Co. UA. nUada,. 



1635.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, 19 

parties. With the view of terminating these unpleasant quarrels, 
and it may have been partly on political considerations, the 
Directors of the company were authorized by the Assembly of 
XIX of the States General, to repurchase patroonships. 

Under this authority, the patroon owners of Swanendael on 
the 7th of February, 1635, retransferred all their right, title and 
interest in their lands on both sides of the bay, to the West 
India Company for the sum of 15,600 guilders, (|6,240.y All 
charters, maps and papers concerning the aforesaid colonies, 
were to be delivered over to the purchasers. This transaction 
was well calculated to put an end to private enterprise on the 
Delaware river on Dutch account, and probably had that eifect. 

The British government never having recognized the claims of 
the Dutch to any part of North America, a party from- the 
English colony on the Connecticut river, consisting of George 
Holmes, his hired man Thomas Hall, and about a dozen others, 
attempted to effect a settlement on the Delaware in 1635. Hall 
deserted his master, and the others, failing in an attack upon 
Fort Nassau, were captured by the garrison and sent to Manhat- 
tan.^ These Englishmen were not punished, but were permitted 
to settle in the vicinity of Fort Amsterdam, and are said to be 
the first English settlers among the Dutch on Manhattan. This 
Thomas Hall became a man of some distinction, as his name fre- 
quently appears in the Dutch records. 

Although this attack on the Dutch fort was unsuccessful, the 
fact that it was made by so small a party, is evidence of the 
weakness of the garrison, and of the small establishment kept on 
the Delaware by the company at this time, to protect its trade ; 
nor is there any evidence that this force was kept there perma- 
nently. 

Up to this period, there is no reliable evidence that the Dutch 
had effected any permanent settlement on the Delaware ; and 
unless the unfortunate colonists at Swanendael be an exception, 
no one had adopted its shores as his home for life, or as an 
abiding place for his posterity. From the period of the foray of 
Holmes and his Englishmen, till about the time of the arrival of 
the Swedes in 1638, the doings of the Dutch on our river, remain 
very much in the dark, for the want of authentic documents on 
the subject, during that period. 

A report,^ made to the States General in April of that year, 
"on the condition of the colony of New Netherland," furnishes 
rather conclusive evidence that nothing of the kind had been at- 

1 Hist. New Netherland i. 365. For a translation of the deed, ib. Appendix S. 

2 DeVries in N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. iii. 76 ; Hist. New Netherland i. 170 ; N. Y. Col. 
Doe. i. 431. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doe. i. 106. 



20 HISTORY OF DELAAYARE COUNTY. [1638. 

tempted. Even the present occupancy of the river is not claimed, 
as will be seen by the following question and answer extracted 
from that document. 

" Are these limits, (limits including the Delaware,) in the pos- 
session, at the present time, of the West India Company, and the 
inhabitants of this country ?" 

Anstver : " We occupy Mauritius, or the North river ; where 
there are two forts. Orange and Amsterdam ; and there is more- 
over one house built by the .company, and that is most of the 
population." 

The house here spoken of, in the opinion of Dr. O'Callaghan,^ 
the very best authority on the subject, was the " House of Good 
Hope," built by the Dutch on the Connecticut river. 

The charter of the Swedish West India Company, having been 
completed, it was printed in Hamburg in 1635. It Avas not, how- 
ever, till 1637, that any active operations connected with the 
establishment of a colony on the Delaware, were commenced. 
The name of William Usselinex, the projector, not only of the 
Swedish Company, but also that of the Dutch ; and who had been 
named in the proclamation of Oxenstiern as the "first director," 
no longer appears. 

Arrangements having been fully made for planting a Swedish 
colony, (on the Delaware,) the expedition for its establishment 
Avas placed under the charge of Peter Minuit, who had served the 
Dutch West India Company as their first Director, and who, no 
doubt, had a practical acquaintance with the river. The squad- 
ron consisted of but two ships, the "Key of Kalmar," a man of 
war, and the " G-rifiin," a tender. They sailed from Gottenburg 
very late in the year 1637, or early in 1638, both vessels "being 
well stored with provisions, ammunition and goods proper for 
■ commerce with the Indians, and donations for them."^ 

The first notice of the arrival of the expedition on our coast, 
is contained in a letter written from Jamestown in Virginia, by 
Jerome Hawley the treasurer of that colony, and is dated May 
8th, 1638.^ The date of the arrival is not given, but it Avas sub- 
sequent to the 20th of March of that year, and at least ten days 
prior to date of his letter. Minuit refused to exhibit his commis- 
sion to the authorities of Virginia, except upon condition of free 
trade in tobacco to be carried to Sweden, Avhich was refused, as 
being " contrary to his Majesty's instructions," but he freely 
proclaimed the fact, that " he held it from the young queen of 
Sweden, and that "it was signed by eight of the chief lords" of 
that government. During the ten days the ship remained at 

1 His note at the foot of p. 107, N. Y. Col. Doe. i. 

2 Acrelius in N. Y. Hist. Col. i. N. S. 409. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doc. iii. 20. 



1638.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 21 

Jamestown, to refresh with wood and water, Minuit also made 
known ^'■that both Imnself and another ship of his company were 
hound for Delatvare Bay,'' which, in the language of the letter, 
" is the confines of Virginia and New England, and there they 
jyretend to make a plantation and to plant tobacco, which the 
Dutch do also already on the Hudson river, which is the very 
next river northward from Delaware bay." 

Minuit having sailed from Jamestown previous to the 8th of 
May, the date of the treasurer's letter, the time of his arrival in 
the Delaware may be estimated with sufficient accuracy. There 
are still other facts that will narrow down the period, during 
which he must have arrived. 

Van Twiller had been succeeded as Director-general of New 
Netherland, by William Kieft, who arrived at Fort Amsterdam 
on the 28th of March of this year. As early as the 28th of 
April, this new and vigilant Director, had been made acquainted 
with the arrival of the Swedes on the Delaware, as on that day, 
he addressed a communication^ to the directors of the West India 
Company, advising them of the movements of Minuit, a notice of 
which he had received from Peter Mey, the assistant Commis- 
sary at Fort Nassau. One of the Swedish vessels had sailed past 
the fort, had dropped down again, had been prevented from 
going up a second time, and had been visited officially by Mey 
for the purpose of seeing Minuit's license, previous to sending a 
notice to Kieft of the arrival of the strangers. These trans- 
actions, with the time required for a messenger to reach the seat 
of government, must have occupied at least a week, and besides, 
it is fair to presume that the Swedes had been in the Delaware 
several days before the Dutch assistant Commissary had become 
aware of their presence. As they could not have left Jamestown 
before the 1st of April, the time of their arrival in the bay could 
not vary more than a few days from the middle of that month. 

Sailing up the bay, Minuit first landed at "Paradise point," 
now known as " Mispillon point,"^ a short distance above the site 
that had been occupied by the unfortunate Colony of De Vries 
and his co-patroons. The next place at which he cast anchor, 
was ofi" the mouth of the Minquas river, which, in honor of the 
young Queen of Sweden, he named Christina. On this stream, 
about two and a half miles from its mouth, Minuit effected a 
landing at a point then favorable for that purpose, and now 
known as " TheMocks.''^ Here, after having purchased the land 
from the Indians, he erected a fort or trading house, upon which 
he also bestowed the name of the Swedish sovereign. 

Immediately upon receiving notice of the arrival of the Swedes 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 592. 

2 Original Settlements on the Delaware, 40. ^ lb. 42. 



22 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1638. 

on the Delaware, Director-general Kieft dispatched Jan Jansen/ 
clerk of Fort Amsterdam, to keep a watch over their doings, with 
instructions, in case Minuit intended to do anything to the dis- 
advantage of the Dutch, "to protest against him in due form." 
This duty was faithfully performed, but failing to have the desired 
effect, Director Kieft caused the Commander of the Swedes to 
be served with a protest under his own hand, of which the follow- 
ing is a copy. 

" Thursday, 6th of May, 1638. 

I, Wilhelm Kieft, Director-general of the New Netherlands, 
residing on the island of Manhattan, in the Fort Amsterdam, 
under the government which appertains to the high and mighty 
States General of the United Netherlands, and to the West India 
Company, privileged by the Senate Chamber in Amsterdam, 
make known to thee, Peter Menuet who stylest thyself com- 
mander in the service of her Majesty the Queen of Sweden, that 
the whole South river of New Netherland, both the upper and 
lower, has been our property for many years, occupied with forts, 
and sealed by our blood, which also was done when thou wast in 
the service of the New Netherlands, and is therefore well known 
to thee. But as thou art come between our forts to erect a fort 
to our damage and injury, which we never will permit, as we also 
believe that her Swedish Majesty has not empowered thee to 
erect fortifications on our coasts and rivers, or to settle people on 
the lands adjoining or to trade in peltry, or to undertake any 
other thing to our prejudice ; now therefore we protest against 
all such encroachments, and all the evil consequences from the 
same, as bloodshed, sedition, and whatever injury our trading 
company may suffer ; and declare that we shall protect our rights 
in a manner that shall appear most advisable."^ 

Acrelius gives this protest the above date, but it is without 
date, as recorded in the Albany Dutch documents, where it stands 
between papers dated respectively, on the 6th and 17th of May.^ 

Minuit being perfectly aware of the weakness of the Dutch at 
Manhattan, and of the disinclination that government would have 
at that time, to have a misunderstanding with her Swedish 
Majesty, had but little regard for these paper missiles, but pro- 
ceeded on with the erection of his fort, which was soon com- 
pleted, when he heartily engaged in the trade of the country ; a 
business he had learned in the service of the Dutch. Before the 
end of July, both vessels had departed for Sweden well freighted 
with furs. This rapid progress of the Swedish Colony, which 

5 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 592. 

2 Acrelius, 409 ; Haz. Reg. iv. 82 ; Haz. Ann. 44. 

3 Minuit made no reply to the Protest of the Governor, but replied in writing to 
that of Jansen. N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 592. 



1638.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 23 

was doubtless owing to the intelligence and experience of the 
Commander, became so alarming to the Dutch Governor at Man- 
hattan, that he at once advised the West India Company in re- 
spect to it, by a letter dated on the olst of July, 1638, of which 
the following is an extract. 

" Minuyt erected a fort on the South river, five leagues from 
ours ; attracted all the peltries to himself by means of liberal 
gifts ; departed thence with two attendant ships, leaving 24 men 
in the fort, provided with all sorts of goods and ^^j^^^^j^^^ 
provisions, had posts set up with these letters, o. it. s. 
&c."^ 

From this letter it might be inferred that Commander Minuit 
returned to Sweden with the ships. Acrelius, however, gives us 
to understand that he did not, but remained and "did great ser- 
vice to the Swedish Colony;" and during three years protected 
this small fort which the Dutch never attempted;" and that 
" after some years he died at this place. "^ 

While it is conceded that the Dutch had for a long time traded 
on the river ; that they had there erected forts or trading posts, 
one of which had been occupied from time to time since 1624 ; 
that they had purchased lands from the Indians on both sides of 
the bay near its mouth, and had made an unsuccessful attempt 
to plant a Colony at Swanendael, yet it cannot be denied that 
the Colony of Minuit, constituted the first pertnanent settlement 
on the Dataware. While the Swedish Government may claim the 
distinction of planting this Colony, it is really entitled to very 
little credit on account of any immediate care and attention be- 
stowed on it. The whole number of emigrants it is supposed, 
did not exceed fifty souls,^ and a portion of these were criminals.* 
Though well supplied in the beginning, they were left a long 
time without aid or succor from Sweden, and but for the experience 
and energy of the Commander, a Dutchman, the permanency of 
the Colony could not have been maintained. As it was, but a*! 
single day intervened between the time appointed, for its disso-j 
lution, and the arrival of supplies that saved it from that catas- 
trophe.^ 

A most important act performed by Minuit, was the purchase^ 
from the Indians of the whole western shore of the Delaware to 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 592. 2 n. y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 410. 

3 Haz. Ann. 46. 

* N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 588. Van Der Donk, in his Description of New Netherlands 
designates the Colony as a "small band oi Holland Suedes," N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. 
i. 141. 

5 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 593. 

* Acrelius says, " Immediately, land was bought from the Indians, a deed was given 
written in Low Dutch, (as no Swede could yet interpret the Indian.) By this agree 
ment the Swedes obtained all the western land on the river, from Cape Henlopen to 
the Falls at Trenton, then called by the Indians Santican, and as much inward from 
it in breadth, as they might want,'' 409. 



24 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1638. 

the falls, near the present site of Trenton. Besides giving the 
Swedes some show of an equitable title to the country, against 
the legal claim set up by the Dutch, it enabled the Swedish set- 
tlers to occupy their lands in a manner much more satisfactory 
to the natives. 

It is but fair to state, that this purchase by the Swedes was 
called in question by the Dutch authorities of Manhattan at 
a subsequent period, on the flimsy testimony of certain Indians 
procured in a very questionable manner. These Indians denied 
" that the Swedes or any other nation had bought lands of them 
as right owners" except a " s??zai/ patch," embracing Christina 
fort. These savages, of whom Mattehoorn was one, claimed to 
be the " great chiefs and proprietors of the lands, both by own- 
nership and descent, and appointment of the Minquas and rivet' 
Indians."^ 

There is still other evidence of this early Swedish purchase. 
Captain Israel Helm, who was a justice of Upland Court, in- 
formed the Rev. Mr. Rudman of the purchase, to the extent that 
has been mentioned, and that the "old people" had informed 
him that they often had seen there "fixed stakes and marks." 
" The purchase was formerly stated in writing, under which the 
Indians placed their marks." This was seen by Mr. Helm when 
at Stockholm.^ 

This digression, to establish the Swedish purchase from the 
natives, will be excused, as it was the first efl'ort of civilized man 
to extinguish the Indian title to the district of country that is to 
claim our particular attention. It will be seen that it embraced 
Swanendael, for which the Dutch had already acquired the Indian 
title, and also the lands about the Schuylkill to which, on account 
of prior purchase, they set up a rather doubtful claim. The lands 
within the limits of our County, were free from any counter claim 
on this account ; and it follows, that to the wise policy of the 
■Swedes we are really indebted for the extinguishment of the 

1 This denial of the Swedish purchase might be entitled to some weight, had it been 
procured in a proper manner. It is said to have been elicited at Fort Nassau many , 
years subsequently, (1651,) by Director-general Stuyvesant in person. The follow- 
ing extract from the Dutch, and of course the only account of the transaction, giving 
thejirst ansivers of the Indians, will satisfy the reader how little reliance should be 
placed on an answer obtained at a later hour in the conference, from an unskilled native 
of the forest, in an ex-parte transaction, at a period too when custom would forbid 
the absence of intoxicating drinks. 

Question. — "What and how much lands the Swedes had bought from the sachems 
or chiefs on this river ?" 

" Mattahoorn, the Sachem, answered by asking another question. Why was not 
the sachem of the Swedes present, that they might ask himself, and hear him? The 
General's reply was that being invited, he was apparently unwilling to come." 

"The chief Mattahoorn answered, secondly, — that all nations coming to the river, 
were welcome to them, and that they sold their land indiscriminately to the first who 
ashed it," see N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 697. 

'■' Extract from Rudman's Notes in Clay's Ann. 17. 



1640.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 25 

Indian title to our lands, — a policy first introduced by the Dutch 
as a matter of expediency, and subsequently adopted by William 
Penn on the score of strict justice to the natives. 

But it cannot be contended, that in accordance with national 
law, this purchase from the natives, gave to the Swedish govern- 
ment any legal claim to the country. They had no legal right 
to make purchases from the Indians. To the Dutch, as discover- 
ers of the river, belonged the right of pre-emption, or if any 
doubt existed on this point, it would be in favor of the English. 
As against the Swedes, the Dutch claim rested not only on dis- 
covery, but the exercise of preemption and occupancy. 

The Rev. Reorus Torkillus, accompanied the Swedish expedi- 
tion and remained with the Colony at Christina as its pastor, 
where he died about five years afterwards. The Dutch who had 
a small garrison at Fort Nassau at the time of the arrival of the 
Swedes, continued to maintain it there, as well for the purposes 
of trade, as to keep a strict watch on the movements of the new 
comers, of which Director Kieft was kept constantly advised. It 
is from his rather ill tempered communications^ to the West India 
Company that we have the little that is known in respect to the 
Christina Colony, for the next two years. 

In 1639 they had so much interfered with the Dutch trade on 
the river, as to reduce it to "a small amount," and "by under- 
selling, had depressed, and continue still, to keep down the 
market." Up to October of that year, the Dutch trade had " fal- 
len short full 30,000 (beavers,)" but hopes were entertained, 
" that they must soon move off, if not reinforced." The location 
of Fort Christina was not very favorable to health, and it is pro- 
bable that the despondency incident to ill-health had something 
to do with the projected removal of the Colony. That it did not 
happen was owing to the timely arrival of fresh settlers, we learn 
from a letter of Director Kieft, dated the last of May, 1640, of 
which the following is an extract. 

" The Swedes in the South river were resolved to move off and 
to come here. A day before their departure a ship arrived with 
a reinforcement."^ The same in substance is repeated in another 
letter from the Dutch Director, dated on the 15th of October, 
following. This timely arrival at once revived the confidence of 
the Colony, and blasted the hopes of the Dutch. 

On the 24th of January, 1640, a passport was granted by the 
Swedish government to " Captain Jacob Powellson, with the 
vessel under his command, named Fredenburg, laden with men, 

1 ]Sr. Y. Col. Doc. i. 592. For a translation from " Besehrijving Van Virginie, Neiu 
Kederland, &c." published at Amsterdam in 1651, of an account of the first settlement 
of the Dutch and Swedes on the Delaware, see Haz. Reg. i. 4. 

2 lb, 593. 



26 HISTORY OF DELAAVARE COUNTY. [1640. 

cattle and other things necessary for the cultivation of the 
country ; (who,) designs departing from Holland to America or 
the West Indies, and there establishing himself in the country 
called New Siveden.''^ 

The Fredenhurg was doubtless the vessel, whose opportune 
arrival, saved the colony of Fort Christina from its impending 
fate. This relief, so absolutely necessary to the salvation of the 
colony, was a mere incident, as the Fredenhurg was not dispatch- 
ed for that purpose, but as a pioneer in the establishment of a 
kind of patroonship of Hollanders under the authority of the 
crown of Sweden. The grant for this purpose, which bears even 
date with the passport of Captain Powellson, Avas made to Henry 
Hochhanmer & Co., and embraced lands on both sides of the 
Delaware without bounds, except that they were to "limit their 
possessions to four or five German miles from Fort Christina."^ 
We learn from a letter of the same date, addressed " to the 
Commandant or Commissary and other inhabitants of Fort 
Christina in New Sweden," that a grant of lands was at first 
made to a Mr. De Horst and others, whose operations were re- 
stricted to the north side of the river, and " to there found a 
colony." The "gracious intention" is also expressed, in this 
letter, of sending to the colonists of Fort Christina from " Got- 
tenburg next spring, if it pleases God, one or two vessels with 
all sorts of provisions." God's pleasure, in giving relief to the 
infant colony, seems, in this instance, to have anticipated the 
"gracious intentions" of her Swedish Majesty. 

Passports for other vessels connected with the Hochhanmer 
settlement or patroonship were granted in blank at the same 
time, and an agent named Jost De Bogardt was appointed, who 
accompanied the expedition. From his commission and the 
obligation he assumed, it appears that he was to act as the gene- 
ral agent of the government on the river, and was not to let any 
opportunity pass, "of sending to Sweden all information which 
may be useful to her Majesty and the crown of Sweden." As 
he was under the pay of the government, at the rate of 500 
florins or 200 rix dollars per annum, with a promised increase of 
100 florins in case of new proofs of his attachment and of his 
zeal to promote the welfare of the Swedish crown, and also re- 
compense " in a royal mnnner," according to circumstances, it 
is fair to infer that Mr. De Bogardt went out in the capacity of 
a spy; and as he was a Dutchman, it is most probable that one 
important part of his duty was to watch over the doings of the 
government of New Netherland. 

1 English translation of Swedish documents in possession of the American Philo- 
sophical Society, procured by the Hon. Jonathan Russell when Minister of the U. S. 
to the Court of Sweden. Haz. Reg. iv. 177, &c. - Haz. Reg. iv. 177. 



1641.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 27 

The Hochhanmer Company probably resulted from the dis- 
putes and jealousies that occurred among the Directors of the 
Dutch West India Company. The privileges^ granted to him 
and his associates were ample and liberal in respect to trade and 
commerce, very much more liberal than the Dutch West India 
Company granted to their patroons. In addition to the office 
of general agent of the crown of Sweden, it is highly probable 
that Jost De Bogardt held the post of commander of this new 
colony, as he is mentioned as occupying that position, in the in- 
structions to Governor Printz, issued in 1642.^ 

Peter Hollandare, a Swede, appointed to succeed Peter Minuit 
as governor of New Sweden, arrived in the first of the vessels 
that brought out the Dutch colony,^ or what is more probable, 
came in one of the vessels sent shortly afterwards for the relief 
and reinforcement of the colony at Christina. His administra- 
tion continued but one year and a half, when he returned to 
occupy a military post in his native country.* 

Since the unsuccessful effort of George Holmes and his small 
company in 1635, we have no notice of any attempt by the 
English to make a settlement on our river till about this period. 
Their operations, even now, are involved in much uncertainty. 
Mr, Samuel Hazard, whose investigations have thrown so much 
light on the early settlements on the Delaware, after diligent 
search among the ancient records of New England, " can collect 
but little definite information on the subject," except that several 
attempts at settlement were made.^ In a Dutch document, 
characteristically long, descriptive of New Netherland, publish- 
ed in 1649, the efforts of the English "at divers times and places 
to annex this South river," is adverted to. According to this 
authority they had, previously to that time, been prevented from 
making actual settlements " by divers protests and by being ex- 
pelled by force, well knowing if they but once happened to settle 
there, the river would be lost, or cause considerable trouble."^ 

In the records of the United Colonies, evidence exists that an 
effort was made in 1640 to plant a colony from New Haven. A 
Captain Turner, agent for New Haven made a large purchase 
"on both sides of Delaware bay and river." Besides trade, the 
object of the purchase " was for the settlement of churches in 
gospel order and purity."'' 

In the year 1641, against the anxious admonition of Director 
General Kieft,^ a company of emigrants from New Haven, pro- 

1 For an English translation of this grant, see Haz. Reg. iv. 178. 

2 lb. 220. 3 Hist. New Netherland, i. 365. 
* Acrelius, N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 410; Clay'.s Ann. 18. 

5 Haz. Ann. 57. « N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 292. 

"^ Haz. Ann. (as extracted from Haz. Hist. Col.) 57; also Trumbull Hist. Con. i. 116. 

s N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 144; Hist. New Netherland, i. 263. 



28 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1642. 

ceeded to the Delaware in a barque fitted out bj a Mr. Lamber- 
ton and placed under the command of Robert Cogswell. Not- 
withstanding the purchases of land made the previous year, 
these emigrants made others, and located themselves on Varkens 
hill near the present town of Salem, N. J., in direct violation 
of a promise made by the captain of their vessel to Director 
Kieft. New England history and records establish the fact that 
such a settlement had been commenced on the Delaware ; but 
the actual existence of English settlers, at the locality mentioned, 
is first officially noticed in the instructions of John Printz, the 
third Governor of New Sweden. The instructions, which are 
drawn up with ability and with a very correct knowledge of the 
river, are dated at Stockholm on the 15th of August, 1642. 
They left it to the discretion of the Governor, either to attract 
these English families (numbering about 60 persons) under the 
authority of the crown of Sweden, or what the government 
thought better, to secure their removal. To effect the latter 
alternative, the Governor had the sanction of his sovereign, " to 
work underhand as much as possible, with good manners and 
with success."^ 

In another attempt by the English to make a settlement on 
the Delaware, they did not even keep at a respectful distance 
from other settlements, " but had the audacity to land in the 
South river' opposite Fort Nassau, "where they made a begin- 
ning of settling on the Schuylkill, without any commission of 
a potentate."^ This intrusion, in the estimation of the Dutch, was 
an afi"air of " ominous consequence," that might eventually result 
in the ruin of their trade on the South river. 

No time was to be lost in getting rid of these dangerous rivals ; 
and in consequence of a resolution of the authorities of New 
Amsterdam, that this was to be done, " in the best manner possi- 
ble," two yachts were placed under the charge of Jan Jansen 
Van Ilpendam, with particular instructions for that object.^ 
These instructions were promptly carried out in respect to those 
located on the Schuylkill, who, it appears, were only a company 
of traders, and their whole establishment a single trading house. 
This house was burnt, and those in charge of it subjected to in- 
dignities and losses, by the attacking party. Smith, in his 
history of New York,"* supposes these English intruders to have 
come from Maryland, but this is not credited by Bozman the 
historian of that province, because " no Maryland records have 
been found that mention any such an attempt from that quarter."'' 

1 For a translation of these instructions entire, see Haz. Reg. iv. 219, &g. 
^ These purchases were made by the agents of the Commissioners of New Haven, 
N. Y. Hist. Col. i. 224. 
3 Acrelius, 413. * Page 6. 5 Hist. Maryland, ed. 1837, 206. 



1642.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 29 

The English Colony on Salem creek was also got rid of. In 
effecting its removal, the Swedes have the credit of lending a 
helping hand to the Dutch. ^ The only measures, in which the 
Dutch and Swedes could unite harmoniously in carrying out, 
were such as would keep the English from gaining a footing on 
the river. 

Our narrative has now reached a period in which the citizens 
of Delaware County will feel a local and more direct interest. 
The government of New 8tveden, and substantially that of the 
whole river, now passed into the hands of John Printz, who 
established his seat of government within the limits of our County. 
This was the first settlement made by civilized man within its 
limits, and the first permanent settlement within the bounds of 
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania of which any record exists. 

The new Governor was a military man, and held a commission 
as lieutenant-colonel of cavalry. His instructions,^ which are 
dated at Stockholm, on the 15th of August, 1642, are very care- 
fully prepared, with a full knowledge both of the geography and 
the condition of the country. They enjoin upon him to see that 
neither violence nor injustice was done nor permitted to be done 
to the Indians, and that in order to secure their trade and good- 
will, he should " furnish them with the things they require at lower 
prices than those they receive from the Dutch of Fort Nassau, 
or from the English their neighbors." If he felt able to protect 
himself in Fort Christina, he was to engage the people to give 
themselves to agriculture with zeal, " especially sowing enough 
grain, to support the people under his orders;" after which his 
attention was to be given " to the culture of tobacco." Besides 
the cattle and sheep sent out, he was at liberty to purchase 
others from his English neighbours, and, " before all," he was 
to direct his attention to the sheep, " in order to have a good 
species," so that a considerable portion of good avooI might in 
future be sent to the mother country. The trade in peltries was 
to be supported in a good condition, and the manufacture of salt, 
the culture of the grape, and the raising of silk-worms suggested. 
Metals and minerals were to be sought after, and how fisheries 
may be established." with profit," was to be inquired into, " as 
according to report they may, at certain times of the year, 
establish the whale fisheries in Godyn's bay and its neighborhood." 
Whatever regarded police, government, and the administration 
of justice, was to be done, " in the name of her Majesty and of 

1 Acrelius, 413 ; Hist. New Netherland, i. 253. Unfounded charges were made by 
the Dutch agent and Swedish governor against the English, that they had plotted with 
the Indians "to cut them off." They needed some excuse for their conduct see N 
Y. Hist. Col. i. 226. ' 

2 For the instructions at length from the MSS. in possession of the American Philo- 
sophical Society, see Haz. Reg. iv. 219, and for a good abstract, Haz. Ann. 63. 



30 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1643. 

the crown of Sweden." From the necessity of the case, it was 
not possible to give " perfect and detailed instructions," but much 
was left to the discretion of the Governor. Great offenders might 
be punished " with imprisonment and other proportionate punish- 
ments, and even with death," but not otherwise "than according 
to the ordinances and legal forms, and after having sufficiently 
considered and examined the affair with the most noted persons, 
such as the most prudent assessors of justice that he can find and 
consult in the country." 

The Dutch Colonists, sent over two years before and settled 
below Fort Christina, were to be permitted to exercise the re- 
formed religion — all others were to be subject to the Augsburg 
Confession, and the ceremonies of the Swedish church. Thus it 
will be seen that the settlement of our County commenced with 
an established religion, though it cannot be said that conformity 
to it was ever rigorously exacted. 

As has been mentioned, the Swedes based their claim to the 
country wholly upon their purchases made from the Indians, 
followed by occupation. The extent of that claim is estimated 
at thirty German miles in length — its width in the interior, as 
had been stipulated and decreed in the contracts with the savages, 
" that the subjects of her Majesty and the members of the Navi- 
gation Company, might take up as much land as they wished." 

The Swedish Dutch Colony is referred to in the instructions 
to Printz, as subject immediately to Commander Jost De Bogardt, 
but the Governor is enjoined to see that the stipulated conditions 
under which the settlement was made, are complied with, and 
their removal to a greater distance from Fort Christina is sug- 
gested. 

Previous to the issuing of these instructions to Governor 
Printz, the two vessels the Stoork and the Renotvn which were 
to bear him and his fellow adventurers to New Sweden, had 
sailed from Stockholm for Gottenburg to complete their equip- 
ments. According to the Rev. John Campanius,^ who accom- 
panied the expedition, they sailed from Gottenburg on the 1st 
of November, 1642, and after a tedious voyage by the way of 
Antigua, arrived at Fort Christina on the 15th of February, 
1643, having experienced a severe snowstorm off the Hooern kill, 
from which one of the vessels sustained great damage. 

The energetic character of the new Governor is abundantly 
evinced during his administration ; and could his acts always 
have been tempered by prudence, his success would have been 
greater. The expedition under his command was the most form- 
idable that had entered the Delaware, and it required him but a 
very short time to give the Swedish establishment on the river a 
very imposing aspect. 

1 Campanius, 70. 



1643.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 31 

His instructions raquired that the river might "be shut" or 
"commanded." For this purpose, the position of Fort Christina, 
at once determined its insufficiency. The bold shore of the island 
of Tennaconk^ (Tinicum,) then extending further into the river 
than it now does, was wisely selected as the site for a new fortress ; 
for while b}'' its position it commanded the river, its proximity to 
Fort Nassau enabled the Governor more readily to control the 
operations of the Dutch. Its insular position also rendered it 
more secure from attacks by the Indians. 

Besides the fort, which was named New Crottenhurg, Governor 
Printz, " caused to be built there, a mansion for himself and 
family which was very handsome ; there was a fine orchard, a 
pleasure house and other conveniencies. He called it Printz 
HalV^ The dilapidated remains, of what was said to be the chim 
ney of this mansion, were standing within the recollection of the 
author, and up to this time one of the small foreign made bricks, 
of a pale yellow color of which it was partly constructed, may be 
occasionally picked up in the vicinity.^ Its site was a short 
distance above the present Tinicum hotel, and on the opposite 
side of the road. 

The fort, we are told by Hudde, was built o^ groenen logs,* the 
one on the other, and "was pretty strong." Groenen has been 
translated hemlock, but as that timber did not grow within any 
convenient distance of the place, and that of a kind much better 
fitted for the purpose was at hand, there is evidently a mistake, 
either in the translation or in the statement of Hudde. 

This vigilant Governor did not feel satisfied that he had quite 
"shut the river" by the erection of Fort Gottenburg; for before 
the expiration of eight months from the day of his arrival, he 
had completed another fortress near the mouth of Salem creek, 
which he called Elfsborg or Elsinborg, and on which were 
mounted eight brass twelve-pounders.^ 

Upon the arrival of Governor Printz, the only European 
population on the river were the few persons occupying the 
Dutch Fort Nassau, the Swedish colony at Christina, and the 
Dutch patroon colony established by the Swedish government at 
one or more points lower down. How many persons accompanied 
the Governor is not known, but the number though not large, 

1 It seems probable that this word in the Indian language meant " Island." 

2 Campanius, 79. 

3 Ferris in his " Original settlements on the Delaware," says ; " This Hall stood more 
than 16U years, and was at last burnt down by accident since the commencement of 
the present century." 

1 Hudde's Rep. N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 429. 

^5 The guns were lying there, and the fort " not entirely finished" when visited by 
De Vries, October 20th, 1643, see his voyages, N. Y. Hist. Col. iii. 123. Campanius 
says this Fort "was erected by Governor Printz, when he first came into the coun- 
try," 80. 



32 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1643. 

was probably greater than the whole previous population of the 
river. He brought with him his wife and one daughter and 
probably other members of his family, a lieutenant-governor and 
secretary, a chaplain and surgeon, (barber,) besides twenty-four 
regular soldiers with officers sufficient for a much larger force. 
These, with an ample supply of military stores and provisions for 
the garrison, and a large stock of goods suitable for Indian traffic, 
which is known to have constituted part of the freight of the 
two vessels, would leave but little space for actual settlers, their 
household goods and implements of husbandry. Still a consider- 
able number of settlers accompanied the expedition, who doubt- 
less j&xed their places of abode within a convenient distance of 
the newly erected forts. It was the first successful colony planted 
within the limits of Pennsylvania. 

We are told by Campanius,^ that " on this island [Tinicum] 
the principal inhabitants had their dwellings and plantations." 
From the limited extent of the island this could not have con- 
tinued long in respect to the plantations. In 1645, when 
Andreas Hudde, the Dutch commissary on the Delaware, made 
his examination of the river preparatory to making his report 
to the government, there were on the same side of the river with 
Fort Christina, and about two [Dutch] miles higher up, " some 
plantations," which, in the language of the report, "are con- 
tinued nearly a mile ; but few houses only are built, and these 
at considerable distances from each other. The farthest of these 
is not far from Tinnekonk. * * * Farther on, at the same 
side, till you come to the Schuylkill, being about two miles, 
there is not a single plantation, neither at Tinnekonk, because 
near the river nothing is to be met but underwood and valley 
lands. "^ 

This report, from such a close and accurate observer as Hudde, 
renders it certain that the immigrants who accompanied Printz, 
as they spread themselves from Tinicum, at first for a time, con- 
tinued within the bounds of what is now Delaware County. The 
points on the river where no marsh or flats intervene between 
the water and the shore, were doubtless the locations first occu- 
pied by these settlers. Chester, Marcus Hook, and one or two 
points above and below, may therefore claim a priority of set- 
tlement to any part of the county of Philadelphia, and after 
Tinicum, of any part of the Commonwealth. 

It is not easy, at this time, to arrive at any satisfactory con- 
clusion in respect to the social and domestic condition of the 
settlers on the Delaware at the time of the arrival of Governor 
Printz, and for a short time afterwards. The Swedes were of 
three classes : " The company's servants, who were employed by 

1 Hist. New Sweden, 79. ^ ]Sf, y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 429. 



1643.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 33 

them in various capacities ; those who came to the country ' to 
better their fortunes,' and who, by way of distinction, were call- 
ed freemen; and a third class, consisting of vagabonds and 
malefactors," who "were to remain in slavery and were employ- 
ed in digging earth, throwing up trenches, and erecting walls 
and other fortifications."^ 

Fort Nassau was merely a military establishment to maintain 
a trading post. It is not known that any actual settlement had 
been made at that point, previous to the arrival of Governor 
Printz, or for some time afterwards. The fort was occupied by 
the soldiers and servants of the Dutch West India Company, 
and there is reason to believe that at times, some of the latter 
were negro slaves.^ 

But little is known of the early doings of the settlement of 
Hollanders under Swedish authority on the river and bay below 
Christina. As has been before observed, this colony had its 
origin in the bitter feuds that existed between the patroons and 
the West India Company. The chief element in this controversy 
was the amount of trade which should be enjoyed by the patroons, 
which the Company seemed determined to wholly monopolize 
themselves. As the trading privileges contained in the Swedish 
grant to these Hollanders are strikingly liberal, it is reasonable 
to conclude that trade at first constituted their chief employment. 

In respect to domestic animals, goats were probably first in- 
troduced. In the investigation of charges brought against 
Governor Van Twiller in 1639, a witness mentions " twenty-four 
to thirty goats, "^ as being in his custody at forts Hope* and 
Nassau. The careful and prudent Minuit had no doubt supplied 
his settlement at Christina with both cattle and sheep. In the 
grant to the colony of Hollanders, it was provided that they 
should take "two or three vessels with men and eattle," and as 
the English settlers at Vrakens kill (Salem) came from New 
England, they were doubtless well supplied with domestic ani- 
mals, which were probably left on the river when they abandoned 
their new home. 

Prior to this period, but very few females of European birth, 
had resided on the Delaware. There was not one in the ill-fated 
colony at Swanendael, by her supplication for mercy, to stay the 

1 Campanius, 73. 

^ Haz. Ann. 49, as quoted from the Breviat, case of Penn and Lord Baltimore, 35. 
The " Freedoms, privileges and exemptions," proposed by the States General prior to 
1640, but not adopted, contains this article : " In like manner the Incorporated West 
India Company shall allot to each patroon, twelve black men and women out of the 
prizes in which negroes shall be found, for the advancement of the Colonies of New 
Netherland," N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 99. 

* Haz. Ann. 50. — In 1634, the Governor of Virginia sent 6 goats to Director Van 
Twiller, by De Vries, as " he had understood there were no goats at Fort Amsterdam." 

^ Fort Hope was on the Connecticut river. 

3 



34 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1643. 

hand of savage cruelty. The affidavit of Dame Catelina Tricho, 
before given, establishes the fact that on at least one occasion, 
four females accompanied their husbands to Fort Nassau ; but as 
the fort was soon abandoned, and only occupied occasionally up 
to the arrival of Printz, their residence here could only have 
been temporary. 

There is also some evidence that the colony at Christina did 
not consist exclusively of the male sex. The Rev. Reorus 
Torkillus, the Swedish priest, who accompanied Minuit, we are 
informed by Campanius,^ took a wife there, by whom he had one 
child previous to his death on the 23rd of February, 1643. It is 
not to be supposed that Mrs. Torkillus was the sole representa- 
tive of her sex in that colony ; nor would it be reasonable to con- 
clude, that the colony of Jost De Bogardt, had omitted to intro- 
duce an item so necessary to its prosperity and permanency. 
Still the number of European females on the river, prior to the 
arrival of Governor Printz, must have been very few, and even 
with the addition brought by him, the number must have been 
disproportionately small compared with the other sex. 

Tobacco and maize, and probably beans, were Indian produc- 
tions of the river prior to the arrival of the Dutch or Swedes. 
Wheat, rye and buckwheat, with a number of garden vegetables, 
had become articles of culture at this period. But the immigrant 
settlers had none of the luxuries, and but few of the comforts of 
civilized life. Where woman was so nearly excluded, but few 
could feel that they had a home even in name. 

In respect to religious matters on the river, there is nothing on 
record, except that the Rev. Mr. Torkillus officiated as clergyman 
at a church built within the walls of Fort Christina up to the 
period of his death. 

The river is generally spoken of as healthful ; but it would ap- 
pear that great sickness and mortality prevailed among the set- 
tlers in 1642. Winthrop^ attributes the dissolution of the 
English "plantation," that is, the settlement at Salem creek, to 
the sickness that prevailed that year. He says, "the same sick- 
ness and mortality befell the Swedes settled on the same river." 
The despondency, with which the early colonists were usually 
seized, was well calculated to increase the mortality of any serious 
disease that might happen to prevail. 

Up to this period, notwithstanding the repeated sales of large 
tracts of land that had been made to the Dutch and Swedes by 
the Indians, the country remained substantially one unbroken 
forest, and was almost as much in possession of the savages, as 
when Cornelis Mey first sailed up the river. They had received 
but little compensation for their lands, but as yet, they had the 

1 Page 107. 2 Winthrop's Journal, ii. 76. 



1643.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 35 

same use of them as they had heretofore enjoyed — not dreaming 
that the enjoyment of these lands by the white man was event- 
ually to result in the total exclusion of their race. The time has 
now arrived for dispelling this delusion. The traffic, that neces- 
sarily made the savage a party, is gradually to give place to the 
culture of the soil, that renders his presence a nuisance. 

Before resuming our narrative, it may not then be amiss, 
briefly to advert to the Indian tribes that occupied the river 
when first visited by Europeans. These tribes collectively, have 
been designated Leni Lenape, or Delaware Indians. They had 
once been a more powerful and warlike nation, but had been con- 
quered by those more northern and western assemblages of Red 
Men known in history as the "Five Nations."^ Not only were 
they a conquered people, but, on the condition of still being per- 
mitted to occupy their lands, they had subjected themselves to a 
kind of vassalage that excluded them from engaging in war, and 
according to Indian ideas of such matters, they were placed on 
a footing with women. They remained in this degraded condi- 
tion until the last remnant of the nation had left the shores of 
the Delaware.^ 

The Leni Lenape were not exclusively confined to the shores 
of the Delaware. They occupied most of New Jersey and the 
whole valley of the Schuylkill. The northern portion of this 
large district was occupied by a division of the nation called 
Minsi or Muncys, The J^antieokes, a rather warlike independ- 
ent nation, occupied the eastern shore of the Chesapeake.^ 

The Delaware Indians enjoyed the advantage of a general 
exemption from the horrors of savage warfare, as a guarantied 
protection was an incident to their vassalage ; but they were 
frequently subjected to the intrusions of parties of the Five 
Nations, who occupied portions of the Lenape country, as their 
occasions required. The Minquas, whose name was borne by 
the Christina river, was among the warlike tribes that most fre- 
quently visited the Delaware for trade. Campanius located 
them twelve (Swedish) miles^ from New Sweden, "on a mountain 
very difficult to climb." He also describes them as a very war- 
like tribe, who had forced the Delaware Indians, who were not 
so warlike, to be afraid of them " and made them subjects and 

1 The Indian communities embraced in this confederacy, were the Mohawks, Oneydas, 
Onondagos, Cayugas and Seneeas. Colden's Hist. Five Nations, 1st part, 1. In 
1712, the Tiiscaroras, a kindred nation from North Carolina, removed to western New 
York and joined the confederacy, after which it was known as the "Six Nations." 
By the French these Indians in the aggregate were known as the Iroquois. 

2 At a treaty held at Philadelphia in July 1742, Canapatego, a chief of the Onondagos, 
thus reprimanded and taunted the Delawares, who were present, for continuing on 
lands they had sold: " We conquered you ; we made women erf you ; you know you are 
women and can no more sell land than women." Colden's Five Nations, part ii. 79 

3 Bancroft's Hist. U. S. iii. 238. 

* One Swedish mile is equal to six of our miles. 



36 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1643. 

tributary to them; so that. they dare not stu^, much less go to 
war against them."^ 

The Minquas Indians, as a tribe, belonged to the Five Nations. 
They resided upon the Conestogo, but their visits to the Dela- 
ware for purposes of trade or to fish were frequent. 

It will thus be seen that the early settlers on the Delaware, 
had two classes of Indians very different in character to deal 
with ; the one a constant inhabitant of the country whose presence 
was familiar to them and caused no uneasiness ; the other, an 
occasional visitor whose stay amongst them, when the object of 
it was not well understood, excited apprehensions for their safety. 
The Lenape lived in small tribes, generally occupying the tribu- 
taries of the Delaware. Each tribe was frequently known to the 
settlers by the Indian name of the stream it occupied. 

In returning from a digression that seemed necessary, to pro- 
ceed with our narrative, we will confine our observations more 
closely hereafter to the small district of country under notice. 

Governor Printz possessed many qualifications that fitted him 
for the position he occupied. His plans were laid with good 
judgment, and were executed with energy. He managed the 
trade of the river with the natives so as to monopolize nearly the 
whole ; and while the jealousy of the Dutch, on this account, 
was excessive, he succeeded during his whole administration, in 
avoiding an open rupture with that government. But he was 
imperious and haughty, and sometimes gave offence, especially 
in personal interviews, when a milder course would have better 
befitted the occasion. 

Though the Swedes had erected a fort on the Jersey side of 
the river, they never placed so high an estimate on their title to 
the land on that side, as to that on the western shore. As a 
consequence, most of their settlements were at first made on this 
side of the Delaware, up which, and the Schuylkill they were 
gradually extended. These rivers and our numerous tide-water 
creeks, constituted the highways of the Swedish settlers, and it 
was in close proximity with these streams their habitations were 
erected. 

The annual pay of the Governor was 800 Rix dollars,^ which 
of course did not include his rations. In addition to this, and in 
remuneration of the long and excellent services that he had ren- 
dered to the crown of Sweden, and was then rendering, his 
sovereign, by a deed of gift executed on the 6th of November, 
1643, granted to him and his heirs, the whole Island of Tinicum.^ 

If we can rely upon the statement of De Vries who visited the 
Governor on the 13th of October, 1643, and remained with him 
several days, he was a man . of enormous dimensions, weighing 

1 Campanius, 168. ^ jj^z. Reg. iv. 314. ^ Appendix, note A. 



1644.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 37 

over four hundred pounds.^ At the time of this visit by De 
Vries, the Swedish fort at "Verchens kill" was not "entirely 
finished," and there Avere "some houses" at Fort Christina. The 
vessel in which De Vries made his visit, was laden with Madeira 
wine, a portion of which the skipper exchanged with the Gover- 
nor for beavers. 

John Papegoya, who had sometime since returned from New 
Sweden, w^as recommended to Governor Printz by a letter from 
the Qeeen and her council, dated at Stockholm on the 2nd of 
November, 1643.^ The Governor was recommended "graciously 
to employ him" in those affairs "to which he might think him 
adapted," and " to give him as much as will be possible and 
reasonable his protection, in order to his advancement." The 
suggestions contained in the letter were construed most liberally 
in favour of the bearer ; for not long after his arrival in New 
Sweden, he became the son-in-law of Governor Printz, and took 
the position of second in command to him. 

Campanius informs us, that in the beginning of Governor 
Printz's administration, "there came a great number of criminals 
who were sent over from Sweden. When the European inhabitants 
perceived it, they would not suffer them to set their foot on shore, 
but they were all obliged to return, so that a great many of them 
perished on the voyage."^ The same author says, that it " was 
after this forbidden, under a penalty, to send any more criminals 
to America, lest Almighty God should let his vengeance fall on the 
ships and goods, and the virtuous people that were on board." 
This part of the statement is not strictly correct, for reliable 
evidence exists that an individual was sentenced to be trans- 
ported to New Sweden nearly ten years subsequently.** 

The settlement of the country proceeded very slowly under the 
Swedish dynasty, while trade was pushed to an extent never 
before known upon the river. This was a source of great annoy- 
ance to the Dutch, as the trade of the river was lost to them in 
proportion as it was acquired by the Swedes. In the language 
of Van der Donk, they " would regret to lose such a jewel by the 
devices and hands of a few strangers."^ 

It is by no means wonderful, that the Dutch should become 
alarmed at the progress the Swedes were making in securing the 
trade of the river, for during the year 1644 'they freighted two 
of their vessels, the Key of Calmar and the Fame, with cargoes 
that included 2,127 packages of beaver, and 70,421 pounds of 

1 N. Y. Hist. Col. iii. 123. 

2 Haz. Reg. iv. 214. 

^ Campanius, 73, related on the authority of Nils Matton Utter, who after his return 
home, served in his Majesty's Life Guards. 
* Haz. Reg. iv. 374. 
5 See his description of New Netherland in N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 142. 



38 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1645. 

tobacco.' This shipment of tobacco would indicate that this 
noxious plant was cultivated to a considerable extent on the 
river at that early period. 

The Swedes mill, known to have been the first mill erected in 
Pennsylvania, was probably built this year, though it possibly 
might have been erected during the year 1643. It was located 
on Cobb's creek immediately above the bridge near the Blue 
Bell tavern. From the holes in the rocks at the point mentioned, 
the mill must have occupied a position partly over the stream, 
and was doubtless driven by a tub-wheel which required but lit- 
tle gearing. Karahung, as given b}^ Campanius, was the Indian 
name of Cobb's creek. This mill, which the governor " caused 
to be erected," he says, " was a fine mill, which ground both fine 
and coarse flour, and was going early and late : it was the first 
that was seen in the country. There was no fort near it, but 
only a strong house, built of hickory and inhabited by freemen."^ 
The jealousy of the Dutch on account of the progress made by 
the Swedes, induced their Governor (Kieft) to send an agent to 
the Delaware to keep a watch on the procedures of Governor 
Printz, and to resist his supposed innovations. The person 
selected was Andreas Hudde, whose report, though incomplete, 
■was made at difi'erent dates. That part of it from which the two 
following paragraphs have been taken, was made the 1st of 
November, 1645. As it will be seen the Swedes mill was then 
erected, and was erected by Governor Printz, who arrived in the 
country 1642, the date of its erection can hardly vary from the 
time above mentioned. 

" In regard to this Schuylkill, these are lands purchased and 
possessed by the Company. He (Governor Printz,) employed 
the Company's carpenter, and constructed there a fort^ on a very 
convenient spot on an island near the borders of the kill, which 
is from the west side secured by another creek, and from the 
south, south-east, and east side with valley lands. It lays about 
the distance of a gun-shot in the kill. On the south side of this 
kill, on the same island, beautiful corn is raised. This fort can- 
not, in any manner whatever, obtain any control on the river, 
but it has the command over the whole creek ; while this kill or 
creek is the only remaining avenue for trade with the Minquas, 
and without this trade the river is of little value." 

" At a little distance from this fort was a creek to the farthest 

1 Hist. New Netherland, i. 370.— De Vries says, the tobacco raised in New Nether- 
land and also on the South river was not different from that raised in Virginia. N. Y. 
Hist. Col. N. S. iii. 125. 

- Campanius, 81. _ 

3 It was subsequently reported, that this fort was erected on the site of a Dutch 
trading-house, which was demolished by the Swedes, but this is very improbable. The 
Company's carpenter would hardly engage in such a business. See Hist. New Nether- 
land, ii."V9. 



1645.] HISTOKY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 39 

distant wood, wliicli place is named Kinsessing by the savages, 
which was before a certain and invariable resort for trade with 
the Minquas, but which is now opposed by the Swedes, having 
there built a strong house. About a half a mile further in the 
woods, Governor Printz constructed a mill on a kill which runs 
into the sea [river] not far to the south of Matinnekonk, and on 
this kill a strong building just by the path which leads to the 
Minquas ; and this place is called by the savages Kakarikonk, so 
that no access to the Minquas is left open ; and he, too, controls 
nearly all the trade of the savages on the river, as the greatest 
part of them go a hunting in that neighborhood, which they are 
not able to do without passing by his residence."^ 

The above extracts have been introduced not only because 
they exhibit the means resorted to by the Swedes to secure the 
whole trade of the river, but because they contain all that the 
Dutch Commissary Hudde, relates on the subject of the location 
of the Swedish fort on the Schuylkill ; in respect to which Mr. 
Ferris in his History of the original settlements on the Delaware? 
has fallen into a very serious error — an error, the correction of 
which has been rendered more important from the fact that the 
opinion of Mr. Ferris has been relied upon by subsequent writers,^ 
on account of his supposed "local knowledge." 

Mr. Ferris locates this fort on a cluster of rocks, once a very 
small island in the Schuylkill above Bartram's Garden, but now 
connected with the shore by marsh meadow. As the island on 
which the fort was erected, " lays about the distance of a gun- 
shot within the kill," it became necessary for our author to re- 
move the mouth of the Schuylkill to a point a short distance 
below the site of the Bartram Garden — now the seat of Mr. 
Thomas Eastwick, because the water at high tide was over " the 
great meadows," extending from thence "in a southerly course 
to the Delaware." Even if the real mouth of the Schuylkill had 
been mistaken by Hudde, the " cluster of rocks" fixed on by Mr. 
Ferris would entirely fail to meet his description of the island 
upon which the Swedish fort was erected. This island, from the 
west was "secured by another creek," and "on the same island 
beautiful corn was raised." While these facts could not possibly 
apply to the site designated by Mr. Ferris, they, as well as the 
other facts mentioned by Hudde, exactly fit the island then, as 
now, at the real mouth of the Schuylkill. The location of the 
fort was undoubtedly upon what is now known a^ Province island ; 
and as it could not in " any manner whatever obtain any con- 
trol on the river," but had "the command over the whole creek" 
or kill, its exact site must have been near the western abutment 
of Penrose Ferry Bridge, or perhaps a little lower down. 

1 Hudde's Rep. in N. Y. Hist. Col. i. N. S. 429, 

2 Page 70. 3 Haz. Ann. 78. 



40 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1645. 

" At a little distance from this fort was a creek to the farthest 
distant wood which place is named Kinsessing by the savages." 
This is designated " Minquas creek," on the "map of the first 
settlements, &c." contained in this volume, and is still known 
in the neighborhood under the corrupted name of Minhus. That 
the name assigned to this creek on our map is the one it bore in 
very early times, is confirmed by a conveyance of Marsh mea- 
dow bordering on it, by Lasse Cock to James Hunt, bearing date 
27th of 3rd mo. 1685,^ in which that name is applied to it, and 
is conclusive in establishing its identity with the creek referred 
to by Hudde. This being established, there will be but very lit- 
tle difficulty in fixing, approximately, the site of the " strong 
house" built by the Swedes. This creek for some distance 
borders on the fast land, and as the remainder of its course was 
through grounds overflowed or partially overflowed at eve"y high 
tide, there is no room to doubt that the " strong house" occupied 
some point on this margin of fast land, " About half a [Dutch] 
mile further in the woods, Governor Printz had constructed a 
mill, &c." This distance accords very nearly with the location 
assigned to the " strong house" of the persevering and avarici- 
ous Swedes. 

There is an additional reason for locating this Indian and 
Swedish trading post, at the point mentioned, in the fact, that 
at this point there are several springs of water in the margin of 
the marsh. 

Hudde at this time, estimates the whole force of the Swedish 
governor at from eighty to ninety men, "freemen as well as 
servants with whom he must garrison all his strong places." But 
the Dutch force on the river at the same time, and for some 
years afterwards was utterly insignificant, even when compared 
with that of the Swedes. In 1648 they had but six able bodied 
men on the river.^ 

Jan Jansen Van Ilpendam, who had held the office of Com- 
missary at the Dutch Fort Nassau, on account of improper con- 
duct was recalled, and Hudde appointed in his stead, who proved 
himself a more efficient officer in resisting Swedish aggressions, 
at least with paper missiles. He repaired the fort, which he found 
in a dilapidated and destitute condition. 

The accidental destruction of Fort Gottenburg by fire, hap- 
pened on the 5th of December, in the year 1645.^ This circum- 
stance is not mentioned by Campanius, though it must have 

1 Recorder's oiSoe, Philadelphia, book E, i. 492. The deed after describing other 
tracts contains the following : " also my right, title and interest in the marsh meadow, 
bounded southward with Minquass creek to the eastward with the Schuylkill river, to 
the northward with Laud's creek, and to the westward with some of the same land." 
On Hill's map of " Philadelphia and Environs" generally known as " Hill's map of 
Ten miles around Philadelphia" published in 1808, this creek is called " Mintjo creek." 

2 Hist, New Netherland, ii. 82. 3 Hudde's Rep. 429. 



1646.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 41 

happened while his grandfather resided there. It was doubtless 
soon again rebuilt, as the seat of government of New Sweden was 
continued at Tinicum. 

The first controversy in which Commissary Hudde was engaged, 
was on the account of the arrival of a shallop or sloop from 
Manhattan under the command of Juriaen Blanche, a private 
trader, who was ordered by the commissary to the Schuylkill, 
"wear the right, and to await there for the Minquas." When 
arrived there, he was peremptorily " commanded to leave the spot 
at once, as belonging to the Swedish crown." This, Commander 
Blanche, at first refused to do, and referred the matter to Hudde, 
who conducted a rather angry controversy with the governor, 
which not being likely to result in obtaining permission for him 
to remain in the Schuylkill, at the spot he desired to occupy, and 
being a jprivate person whose expenses and losses would not be 
borne by the Company, he wisely took his departure ; not how- 
ever by reason of any order from the Commissary. What is re- 
markable, a Swedish priest, most probably Campanius, took a 
part in the negotiation.'^ 

It may be inferred from the proceedings in this controversy 
that an arrangement had been entered into between the Swedes 
and the Dutch about the trade of the Schuylkill. To a query 
propounded by Printz : " On the Schuylkill, in what manner the 
property of it is ascertained and understood ; what and how far 
are extended its limits?" Hudde answers, "That the acts re- 
lative to the division of the limits are at the Manhattans, where 
he (Printz) may obtain correct information." Also in the letter 
of the Governor to Blanche, directing him to leave, this language 
occurs : " Directly leave that spot with your trading vessel in the 
Schuylkill, seek the spot where usually sloops are accustomed to 
trade — which shall not be prohibited ; neither do I desire that 
my subjects shall be admitted there, from respect and friendship 
for the commander and his commissions as long as you are re- 
maining and trading in the Schuylkill, or that they would obstruct 
your interests." It is evident that it was the particular place 
that Blanche was in, that he was commanded to leave, and not 
the kill. The letter of Governor Printz is dated at " Tinnekonk" 
on the 20th of June, 1646.^ 

On the 12th of July following, the particulars of this event 
was communicated by Hudde to Governor Kieft at Manhattan, 
together with a plan for continuing the trade with the Minquas, 

1 Hudde's Rep. 431-432. 

2 lb. — In this oommunioation by Governor Printz to Hudde, the following language 
occurs : " That I compelled by force, Jurian Blanck to sail up and fasten his bark to 
the bridgp." It may reasonably be conjectured that this bridge was over Minquas 
creek, connecting the main land with the opposite island near the site of the " strong 
house." — See map of Early Settlements. 



42 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1646. 

and in the meantime he received instructions to inquire about 
certain minerals in the country ; in pursuance of which he visited 
Sankikans which was the Indian name for the Falls of the 
Delaware at Trenton, but he was arrested in his upward progress 
by an Indian sachem, who confided in the truth of a story 
alleged to have been gotten up by Governor Printz, that the 
Dutch " had an intention to build a house near the Great Falls, 
and that in the vessels which were expected — 250 men would arrive 
— which would be sent hither from the Manhattans, and would 
kill all the savages below on the river, &c !"^ It was manifestly 
the interest of the Dutch at this time, to have an establishment 
higher up the river in order to secure its trade, and it is much 
more reasonable to believe that something of the kind was con- 
templated by them, than that the whole story was the malicious 
invention of the Swedish governor. 

Under instructions received on the 7th of September of this 
year, " to purchase some land from the savages, which was situ- 
ated on the west shore about a mile (Dutch,) distant from Fort 
Nassau on the north," we find the vigilant commissary busily 
engaged on the very next day, in taking possession of the covet- 
ed spot, by erecting the company's arms upon it. This Christian 
method of acquiring title to Indian lands, by taking possession 
in advance of the purchase, is to be excused in the present in- 
stance on account of the proprietor not being " at home." On 
the 25tli of the same month, however, the purchase was com- 
pleted, in evidence of which the original proprietor aided in 
placing the arms of the company on a pole, which was fixed in 
the ground on the limits.^ This purchase included a portion of 
the grounds now occupied by the city of Philadelphia, as it also 
certainly did some of the lands that had been purchased by the 
Swedes upon their first arrival in the country, and of course this 
transaction became a bone of contention between the two govern- 
ments. The planting of a Dutch settlement on the western 
shore of the Delaware was now the policy of the authorities at 
Manhattan.^ Upon certain Dutch freemen making preparations 
to build on their newly acquired possessions, the Swedish com- 
missary Henry Huygen, removed the emblem of Dutch sove- 
reignty, that had been set up by Hudde with the assent of his 
savage grantor, using at the same time the very insulting re- 

1 Hudde's Rep. 432. 2 ib. 433. 

^ As a further evidence of the disposition of the Dutch to gain a footing on the west 
shore of the Delaware, their governor (Kieft) about this time granted to four freemen 
100 Morgens of land, " lying almost over against the little island called Vogelsant, 
(Singing bird) now Egg island, in the state of Delaware, on the condition that they 
would improve it, and bear allegiance to their high Mightinesses, (fee. See Haz. Reg. 
iv. 119; Hist. N. Netherland i. 373; "York Book" Reo. deeds office, Dover, where 
the name of the island is translated " Bird land j" Acrelius says the grantees never 
came there. N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 417. 



1646.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 43 

mark : " that although it had been the colors of the Prince of 
Orange that were hoisted, he would have thrown these too under 
his feet."^ In one of the conflicts between the parties, a Swedish 
sergeant behaved himself so much " against all good order and 
decency," that Commissary Hudde felt it to be his duty to arrest 
him and keep him "in the guard house some time," besides 
giving him a severe reproof. 

This event elicited from Governor Printz a sharp protest,^ 
directed to Hudde, in which he reminds him, "to discontinue 
the injuries of which he has been guilty against the Royal 
Majesty of Sweden," and accuses him of "gross conduct" on 
account of his " secret and unlawful purchase of land from the 
savages," alleging that in making it, "he betrayed his conviction 
of the justice, equity and antiquity of his pretensive claims, of 
which he so loudly boasted." This protest is dated N. Gotten- 
burg, September 30th, 1646, 0. S., and was delivered by Oloff 
Stille and Moens Flom, two Swedish freemen. 

On the 22nd of October, the reply of Hudde was sent to the 
Governor.^ It is rather pacific in its tone. He assures the 
Governor, that he purchased the land of "the real owner," and 
if he (the sachem) had sold the land previously to his Honor, 
then he had imposed most shamefully upon him. He protests, 
" that he performed everything and endeavoured to employ all 
means, by which a good correspondence and mutual harmony 
might be promoted," and closes with these words, "I will con- 
fide, that it is your Honor's intention, to act in the same manner 
— at least from the consideration that we who are christians will 
not place ourselves as a stumbling block, or laughing stock to 
those savage heathens which I trust, that shall remain so, as it 
is by your affectionate friend." 

This affectionate epistle was received in a rather gruff manner 
by the Governor, who threw it towards one of his attendants 
saying, "there take care of it." This is reported by Hudde's 
sergeant who acted as messenger on the occasion, and as the 
Governor was engaged with " some Englishmen just arrived from 
New England," the statement may be credited; but no credit 
can be given to his tale, that the Governor took a gun down from 
the wall "with the intention of shooting him." 

Hudde also complained that Printz had forbidded his subjects, 
(as he called them,) "to enter into any transactions" with the 
Dutch. This non-intercourse policy does not appear to have 
been very strictly enforced, for in less than a year, we find 
Hudde and his wife at the Governor's table — the fact being re- 

1 Acrelius says that this language was used upon the occasion of pulling down the 
Dutch coat of arms raised at Sawtikan, (Trenton.) 

2 Hudde's Report, 433. 3 lb. 434. 



44 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1646, 

ported to show the rough and vulgar expressions, his excellency 
was capable of using in the presence of a lady.^ 

Nor were the Dutch annoyed alone by the Swedes. A letter^ 
from President Eaton of New Haven, to Governor Kieft, dated 
August 12th, 1646, 0. S., complains of "injuries and outrages," 
to the persons and estates of the English, received at Manhattaes, 
Delaware river, &c. Since the removal of the English colony 
from Salem creek, there is no account of that people being 
present in the river, except those in conference with Governor 
Printz, above mentioned, and a trading vessel from Boston in 
1644 ; four of whose crew were inhumanly murdered by the 
Indians, and the balance — a man and a boy carried off by them. 
These, through the instrumentality of Governor Printz, were 
procured from their captors and sent to Boston — the man to be 
tried for his life on the charge of having betrayed the vessel into 
the hands of the Indians.^ 

It is not very creditable to the Rev. John Campanius, who 
accompanied Governor Printz to America, that he has not fur- 
nished a better account of the progress of ecclesiastical affairs 
during his residence. He was no doubt much occupied in learn- 
ing the language of the Indians, into which he translated Luther's 
catechism. This work was partly accomplished during the six 
years he resided in New Sweden. The Rev. Reorus Torkillus 
dying about the time of the arrival of Campanius, the latter no 
doubt officiated at Christina as well as at New Gottenburg. During 
the year 1646, a church was erected at the seat of government 
at Tinicum, which was consecrated .to divine services on the 4th 
of September and also its burying place, by the Rev'd pastor. 
" The first corpse that was buried there was that of Catharine, 
the daughter of Andrew Hanson. She was buried on the 28th 
of October, in the same year being the feast of St. Simon and 
St Jude."* 

The site of the burying place, and doubtless that of the church 
also, was close on the margin of the river, and is now occupied 
by a part of its bed between the Lazaretto and Tinicum hotel, 
but nearer the latter. It is not many years since human bones 
were seen protruding from the undermined and receding bank of 
the river. 

The younger Campanius relates that " the Indians were fre- 
quent visitors at his grandfather's house. When for the first 
time he performed divine service in the Swedish congregation, 
they came to hear him, and greatly wondered that he had so 

1 Hudde's Report, 436. 

2 For the letter, see N. Y. Hist. Col. i. 191, in which it is republished from vol. ii. 
Haz. Hist. Col. 

3 Haz. Ann. 82, as extracted from Winthrop's Journal. 
* Campanius, 79-80. 



1647.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 45 

much to say, and that he stood alone and talked so long, while 
all the rest were listening in silence. This excited in them 
strange suspicions ; they thought everything was not right, and 
that some conspiracy was going forward amongst us ; in conse- 
quence of which, my grandfather's life, and that of the other 
priests, were for some time, in considerahle danger from the 
Indians, who daily came to him and asked him many questions." 

Campanius availed himself of these opportunities to make his 
savage visitors understand there was one self-existing God ; to 
acquaint them with the doctrine of the Trinity ; the creation of 
the world and of man ; original sin ; together with the doctrines 
and miracles of Christianity generally. If we are to credit his 
grandson, whose statements are not the most reliable, he was so 
successful in his instructions " that many of those barbarians 
were converted to the Christian faith, or at least acquired so 
much knowledge of it, that they were ready to exclaim, as Gap- 
tain John Smith relates of the Virginia Indians, that so far as 
the cannons and guns of the Christians exceeded the bows and 
arrows of the Indians in shooting, so far was their God superior 
to that of the Indians."^ 

Governor Kieft having been recalled, the administration of 
affairs upon Dutch account on our river, passed into the hands 
of Peter Stuyvesant, his successor, a man of great energy, intel- 
ligence and bravery, but possessed of a will characteristic of his 
countrymen. His administration commenced on the 27th of 
May, 1647, and continued till 1664, when the American inter- 
ests of the Dutch passed into the hands of the English. 

The bickerings between the Swedes and Dutch were continued, 
and during the early part of the administration of the new direc- 
tor general, the latter, in their claims for redress were not more 
successful than they had been under his less worthy predecessor. 
The reason is obvious, as according to the most reliable authority 
on the subject, the whole population of New Netherland at the 
close of Kieft' s administration did not exceed a thousand souls.^ 
Besides their weakness, the Dutch authorities may find an addi- 
tional excuse for the neglect of their interests on the Delaware, 
in the fact, that the whole energies of the government were, at 
this time, required to resist the constant encroachments of the 
New Englanders on their territory. 

If the evidence of Commissary Hudde is to be relied upon, the 
annoyances practised by the Swedes towards the Dutch were un- 
ceasing and unendurable. In the absence of Swedish authority 
on the subject, without questioning the general truthfulness of' 
the Commissary's statements, it would be unjust to give too 

^ Campanius, 75, 76. 

2 Hist. New Netherland, i. 386. 



46 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1647. 

ready an ear to his suspicions ; to admit the correctness of his 
conclusions without some grains of allowance ; or to believe that 
all the aggressions of which he complains, were without provoca- 
tion on the part of his people. 

Hudde accuses Governor Printz with conniving at the abuse 
of the Company's subjects — freemen as well as servants — " when 
arriving at the place where he resides, ***** so that they are 
often, on returning home, bloody and bruised," and he seems to 
attribute similar treatment from the savages to these examples, 
and particularly a surprise meditated by the Armewsick savages 
on the 12th of May, 1647, at noon, which "was -rendered void 
by God's mercy and correct information, and through a misun- 
derstanding amongst them." He accuses the governor with 
closing the river, "so that no vessel can enter it on any account, 
except with his previous consent;" with vilifying their High 
Mightinesses ; treating as frivolous and insignificant the commis- 
sions granted by the Director-general, kc.^ 

A petition for indemnity on account of Swedish aggressions, 
got up in the year 1651, and presented to Governor Stuyvesant, 
contains the following item : 

" I, the undersigned Symon Root, most humbly request due 
indemnity for incurred losses and damages ; first for the opposi- 
tion of the Swedes oifered to my building at Wiggnakoing^ in the 
year 1647 ; inasmuch as the throwing down of the Hon"'' Com- 
pany's arms, and the destruction of the building erected by Com- 
missary Andries Hudde, rendered it sufficiently apparent, that 
further occupation there would be prevented by them."^ 

The Swedish governor is also accused by one John Geraet, of 
seizing himself and his boat, the Siraen, with force and violence, 
with handling his goods, and with taking from him three guns 
and some powder.* 

However unsatisfactory the proceedings of Printz were to the 
Dutch, they met the hearty approval of his own government. In 
a letter sent home by him in February of this year, he gave full 
information " of the nature and actual condition of New Sweden, 
as also respecting the progress of cultivation and the construction 
of dwellings in that country." This information was "infinitely 
agreeable" to her Majesty's government, and although she "had 
remarked with particular satisfaction the zeal, skill and activity" 
with which he had filled his station as Commander, (for so he is 
styled in the letter,) and gave him assurances that " his zealous 
and faithful services" should be held in remembrance and re- 
warded with all her royal favor, yet she declined for the present 
to confer on him "certain lands and occupations" for which he 

1 Hudde's Report, 436. ^ Now Wicacco in Philadelphia. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 594. * lb. 



1648.] HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. 47 

had made a particular request in his letter. She " was well dis- 
posed to grant him what was just," but the cautious government 
of Sweden required that the business should first be examined 
in the "chamber of finance," and that it should be ascertained 
that the lands he asked " had not been given awaj or were not 
required for the cavalry or soldiers."^ 

Printzdorp, hereafter to be mentioned, was probably granted 
in response to the letter of the Governor. 

On the 17th of August, Hudde delivered to Governor Printz, 
a protest which he had received from Director General Stuyve- 
sant, and having obtained permission to visit Manhattan, he 
carried back with him the reply of the Swedish Governor. These 
documents do not appear to be on record. 

The ship Swan, which had accompanied Printz, arrived a 
second time during the year 1647, bringing more people. Three 
other vessels are mentioned as arriving during the administration 
of Printz — the Black Cat, the Key and the Lamb.^ 

On the 20th of January, 1648, the Government of Sweden 
issued letters patent in favor of the South Company, " for the 
State of NeAV Sweden and the payment of those in their employ, 
granting one third of the excises of the crown upon all confiscated 
tobacco, besides fines and forfeitures, and provided that in case 
the revenue from this source should be insufficient to furnish the 
necessary sum for the annual support of the State of New Sweden, ' ' 
the deficit was to be made up from the other resources of the 
crown. In addition, all merchandise from Holland transported 
to New Sweden, and not landed in Sweden to be sold, was to be 
free from payment of duty, as were also tobacco and furs sent 
from New Sweden to the mother country.^ This was a wise 
stroke of policy on the part of the Swedish Government, as it 
secured the regular payment of wages to the persons in their 
employ, and at the same time gave the colony commercial ad- 
vantages as favorable as could be desired. 

A Swedish bark in going up the river, in violation of an 
understanding between the two governments, neglected to show 
her colors in passing Fort Nassau. This Hudde regarded as a 
national insult, and sent eight men in pursuit, which proved 
unsuccessful. The testy commissary was not disposed to allow 
the afiair to pass unnoticed, particularly as the offending skipper, 
on his return, had aggravated his offence by telling Hudde, that 
his act was intended as a personal insult. The result was a for- 
mal protest to Governor Printz, which, if it had no other effect, 

1 For the Queen's letter, see Haz. Reg. iv. 315. Unfortunately tlie letter of Printz 
is not among the documents procured by Mr. Russell and presented to the Philoso- 
phical Society. 

2 Acrelius, 410. 3 Haz. Reg. iv. 373. 



48 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1648. 

it gave reason to suspect that the representative of New Nether- 
land, on " the South river," was disposed to make the most out 
of a very small matter.^ 

Governor Printz was generally successful in the execution of 
every scheme in which he engaged, but this year Stuyvesant was 
advised that he (the governor) was tampering with the Minquas, 
and endeavouring to obtain their consent to the erection of a 
Swedish trading post in their country.^ Either the Dutch gover- 
nor was misinformed, or Printz had over-estimated his influence 
with this distant savage nation ; for no such trading post was 
ever established. 

During the winter, the Swedes had been engaged in bringing 
together a large quantity of logs, and had already carried a 
great number of them to the Schuylkill. This made Hudde appre- 
hensive, " that the Governor had an intention to construct some 
buildings near the place where the vessels are now usually laying 
at anchor;" and he says, "as these, trading as before, had been 
driven from Kinsessing, and we cannot otherwise approach the 
large woods to trade with the Minquas, by which consequently 
the trade being lost to us, the possession of the river, as I well 
observed before, would deserve very little consideration."^ In 
case the Swede went on with the building, and took possession 
of some yet unoccupied places, Hudde humbly proposed ^Ho 
take possession of the tract of land nearest to him, in the name of 
the Company." It happened very opportunely for the commis- 
sary, and affords him some excuse for his subsequent proceedings, 
which otherwise might have been considered as an act of aggres- 
sion, " that on the fourth da}^ of the same month, some sachems 
came to him from the savages of Passayonk, who asked him why 
he did not build on the Schuylkill ; that the Swedes had already 
there some buildings constructed." Circumstances sometimes 
almost miraculously adapt themselves to our wishes, or we might 
suspect that Hudde had some instrumentality in bringing about 
this kind invitation of the Passayonk savages, for the Dutch to 
occupy their laqds. 

Having received " correct information with regard to the anti- 
cipation by the Swede ; and particularly so with regard to some 
places of the highest importance," he directly prepared himself 
to build near the place^ and on the 27th "went thither with the 
most necessary timber, calling then without delay for the sachems, 
and stating to them, that at present, he came there with the 

1 Hudde's Rep. 437. "- Hist. New Netheiiand, ii. 79. 

3 Hudde's Report, 438. This langnage of Hudde, confirms what has before been 
suggested that the Dutch vessels were not driven from their usual place of anchorage 
and trade in the Schuylkill, by the Swedes, and had only been interfered with when 
they themselves were the aggressors. They were very properly driven from "Kinsess- 
ing," where the Swedes had their " Strong House" as a regular trading post. 



1648.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 49 

intention to build on that spot which they had granted him." 
Upon this representation, the sachems sent a message to the 
Swedes ^'•wJio lived there already^ and commanded them to depart 
from thence, insinuating that they had taken possession of that 
spot in a clandestine way, and against their will and that they 
had made a cession, for the present to Hudde ; that he too 
should build there ; on which two of the principal sachems, as 
Maarte Hoock and Wissementes, planted there with their own 
hands the colors of the prince of Orange, and ordered that I 
should fire a gun three times, as a mark that I had taken 
possession."- 

After this ceremony and waste of powder, the house was raised 
in the presence of the chiefs, but towards evening the Swedish 
Commissary, Huygens, with seven or eight men arrived there, lo 
question Hudde, " by whose permission or order he had raised 
that house." Hudde replied, "by order of his masters, and w^ith 
the previous consent of the savages." The Swede demanded 
documentary evidence that he was acting by authority of his 
masters, "and not on letters of some freemen." This Hudde 
agreed to produce, after Huygens had delivered to him the like 
authority for making such a demand. 

The sachems now interceded, and delivered a rather sharp 
reprimand to Hendrick Huygens and his company. They in- 
formed them that they should grant the Dutch " that tract of 
land, and that they would settle there;" and asked, "by whose 
orders they, (the Swedes,) did erect buildings there ? If it was 
not enough that they were already in possession of Matennekonk, 
the Schuylkill, Kinsessing, Kakanken, Upland, and other places 
possessed by the Swedes, all of which they had stolen from them ? 
that Mennewit, now about eleven years past, had no more than 
six small tracts of land, upon Paghaghacking, purchased to plant 
there some tobacco, of which the natives, in gratitude, should 

enjoy the half of the produce ; that they, (the Swedes,) 

arrived only lately on the river, and had taken already so much 
land from them, which they actually settled, while they, [the 
Dutch] pointing to them, never had taken from them any land, 
although they had dwelt here and conversed with them more than 
thirty years. "^ Hudde continued the work — "surrounding the 
house with palisades because the Swedes had destroyed before, 
the house, which the company possessed on the Schuylkill, and 
built a fort in its place, and they might do the same here." 
While we were thus at work, continues Hudde, " ai-rives Maens 
Klingo, Lieutenant at the fort on the Schuylkill, with twenty- 
four men fully armed, with charged muskets, and bearing maces, 
marching in ranks. He asked if we intended to finish that work, 

1 Hudde's Report, 438. 2 ib. 439. 

4 



50 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1648. 

and if we would proceed with it ? To which I answered, what 
was commenced must be finished too; upon which, he commanded 
that his men sliould lay down their muskets, and each of them 
should take his axe in his hand, and cut down every tree that 
stood around or near the house — destroying even the fruit trees 
that I had planted there." 

This House of Contention, afterwards became what was well 
known as " Fort Bevers Rheede," though the fact is not directly 
stated by Hudde. As permission for its erection was obtained 
from the Passayunk Indians, the site of this fort must have been 
at some point on the east bank of the Schuylkill, now in the 
i&rst ward of the City of Philadelphia, and within the limits of 
the former township of Passayunk. An approximate location 
has been assigned to this fort, on " the map of the early settle- 
ments," after taking into consideration the suitableness of loca- 
tion in connection with the facts above stated.^ 

It will be observed, that in the harangue of the Passayunk 
Savage, Upland is mentioned as a Swedish settlement. This is 
the first notice of that town under its Swedish name, on record ; 
but doubtless one or more of the plantations observed by Hudde, 
in November, 1645, was at that place. It may also be inferred 
from that harangue, that up to this time, the Dutch had not 
made, what the speaker considered, an -actual settlement. 

It is now observable, that the Dutch became more anxious to 
acquire an Indian title to the lands on our river, and particularly 
to those lands that had been granted by the savages to the 
Swedes. With this object, a committee of the high-council at 
Fort Amsterdam, consisting of Yice-director Dinclage and the 
Hon. La Montague, were commissioned to proceed to the South 
river, where they arrived on the 7th of June, and on the 10th, 
obtained a confirmation, in writing, of a transfer said to have been 
formerly made to Arent Corson. This document is given at length, 
on page 18. By a reference thereto, it will be seen that the 
savage grantors claim to be " sachems over the district of coun- 
try called Armenverius." This country on the Dutch map 
is located on the Jersey side of the river, in the vicinity 
of Fort Nassau, and not at all likely to include " the 
Schuylkill and adjoining lands." Passayunk embraced the 
Eastern shore of the Schuylkill from its mouth some distance 
upwards, and is given by Campanius as one of the " principal 
towns or places" of the Indians, on the river ; and Hudde him- 
self, but a little over a month previously, had recognized the 
authority of its sachems to make a grant for the erection of a 

1 The East bank of tke Schuylkill has a bold shore half a mile above the Penrose 
Ferry bridge, which continues some distance, and is the only suitable locality for a 
fort or trading post within the limits of Passayunk. 



1648.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 51 

trading post on their lands, while it will be seen that these same 
sachems are not among those who joined in this pretended con- 
veyance, or rather confirmation without consideration, of a pre- 
vious conveyance to Arent Corson, of the same lands, by the 
same parties, part of the purchase money for which, was still 
due ! A late writer has very properly remarked that, " the 
readiness which the natives manifested to part with their terri- 
tory, was equalled only by their willingness to sell it again to 
any who might choose to purchase it."^ He might have added, 
as applicable to this period in the history of our river, that 
there was no lack of these purchasers, at second hand. 

After the Hon. Committee of the Dutch Council had concluded 
their purchase and had taken public and lawful possession, they 
"with a becoming suite, sailed for Tinnekonk," where they met 
with a very cold reception from Commissary Huygen and Pape- 
goya, the son-in-law of Governor Printz, Avho kept them stand- 
ing in a constant rain about half an hour. After being admit- 
ted to an audience " they delivered, among others, their Solemn 
protest against the aforesaid Printz, against his illegal possession 
of the Schuylkill."^ Governor Printz promised to give his 
answer before their departure, of which Hudde has made no 
note. 

Places of settlement on the Schuylkill were now assigned to 
several freemen. On the 2nd of July, one of the number com- 
menced to build, but Avas prevented by the son-in-law of the 
Ghavernor, who caused to be pulled down and burnt what he had 
raised, and adding insult to injury, threatened, " that if he there 
came again, he would carry off with him a good drubbing."^ 

Hudde records similar proceedings, though not so violent, on 
the part of the Swedes, towards one Thomas Braes who attempt- 
ed to settle and build at a place named by them " New Holm." 
This is probably the same occurrence mentioned by Acrelius as 
happening in 1646, in which Thomas Broen was the person de- 
siring to build. If so, " New Holm" was located in the neigh- 
borhood of Mantua Creek in New Jersey. Printz offered Broen 
permission to build under Swedish jurisdiction, which he re- 
fused.* 

Commissary Hudde being temporarily absent on a visit to his 
superiors at Fort Amsterdam, Governor Printz erected a build- 
ing, about 30 feet long and 20 wide, immediately in front of the 
new Dutch Fort Beversreede on the Schuylkill, " so that the 
vessels that came to anchor under the fort could discover said 
fort with difficulty." The back gable of the house was only 12 
feet from the gate of the fort and on the outer side of it. Alex- 

1 Mr Armstrong's Introduction to Record of Upland Court, 15. 

2 Hudde's Report, 440. 3 jb. 440. * Acrelius, 411. 



52 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1648. 

ander Boyer, who had charge of the interests of the Dutch 
during Hudde's absence, very properly regarded the building of 
this house by Governor Printz, as intended more to insult his 
" lords and masters than to reap, for himself any real advan- 
tage from it," because, he said, "the ground in the same range 
■with our fort is large enough to admit twenty similar build- 
ings."^ 

Boyer also reports two Swedes, as having been murdered by 
the Maquas^ — the first instance on record of Swedish blood 
having been shed by the Indians. 

Hudde returned on the 5th of October, with a few freemen, to 
whom had been delivered letters patent to settle and build on 
the Schuylkill. He says he "was directly informed that the 
Swede placed his best hope on the country of the Minquas 
against the bargain concluded by us," and "to prevent similar 
frivolous pretentions, and to shew that the contract, was by no 
means broken by the honorable committee," he addressed a note 
to Hendrick Huygens, intended to be shown to the Governor, of 
which the following is an extract :— 

" Honorable and obliging good friend, accept my cordial 
salutation. It was with deep regret that I was informed on my 
return, that our fugitives can find no residence in the Minquas 
country, against the good intentions indeed of our Director- 
general, who will not permit that anything shall be undertaken 
by his subjects against our contract, but expects that similar 
conduct shall be holden from both sides. "^ 

It is evident from the foregoing extracts from Hudde, as has 
been before suggested, that a contract existed between the 
Swedes and the Dutch, that contained some specifications in re- 
spect to the trade and occupancy of the Schuylkill ; and it is but 
reasonable to conclude that the harsh conduct of Governor Printz 
towards the Dutch on that river, resulted from a belief that their 
acts were in violation of that contract. It may also be inferred 
that the Minquas maintained a kind of ownership over the coun- 
try about the mouth of the Schuylkill, as in my apprehension 
the allusion to their country in the quoted language of Hudde, 
had no reference to the usual place of residence of that power- 
ful tribe of savages, which will be shown hereafter was on the 
Susquehanna. This ownership might have been for the purposes 
of trade or fishing, and to serve their convenience during their 
periodical visits. Whatever it was, Hudde was evidently appre- 
hensive, that the late act of the committee of the Dutch Council 
might be regarded with disfavor by these savages. In a subse- 
quent negotiation with the Dutch, in which some of the same 

1 Hudde's Report, 441 ; Albany Records, Haz. Ann. 103. 

2 Haz. Ann. 104. ^ Hudde's Reports, 441. 



1648.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 53 

sachems who confirmed " the Schuylkill and adjoining lands" to 
the honorable committee, participated, when asked whether 
" they were chiefs and proprietors of the lands situate on the 
west side of this river, at present partly incorporated and settled 
by the Swede ?" replied that they "were great chiefs and pro- 
prietors of the lands, both by ownership and descent, and hy 
appointment of Minquas and river Indians."^ 

The Schuylkill river was not the highway by which the 
Minquas reached the trading mart near its mouth, or at Kin- 
sessing, as might be inferred from the language of some writers. 
Their route passed diagonally over the whole extent of Delaware 
county, entering Philadelphia at the head of tide water on Cobb's 
creek near the site of the Swede's mill ; doubtless a branch of the 
usually travelled path to their more southern trading post at 
Fort Christina.^ 

The land assigned to the freemen, who accompanied Hudde on 
his return, was located on the Schuylkill, at a place then known 
as "Mast-makers Corner," "Point," or "Hook." In their 
efforts to occupy and build on these lands, they met with the 
same determined opposition from the Swedes, that others had 
experienced. The officers to whom this work of demolition was 
assigned, did not hesitate to avow, that they were acting under 
the special instructions of Governor Printz. The exact position 
of Mast-makers Corner is not known. It was on the east side 
of the Schuylkill, and probably but a very short distance from 
the Dutch Fort Beversreede. An account of these harsh pro- 
ceedings on the part of the Swedes, forwarded to Fort Amster- 
dam by Hudde on the 7th of November, closes the often cited 
report of that vigilant functionary.^ 

Two days later, Adrian Van Tiedhoven, " Clerk of the court 
on the South river," also reported sundry of the Swedish out- 
rages above noted, but he arrives at the conclusion that these 
cannot cause much injury to the Dutch trade with the Indians. 
He, however, regards commerce here, as "nearly spoiled," as he 
says, "we are compelled to give two fathoms white, and one of 
black Seawant* for one beaver ; one fathom of cloth for two 
beavers ; every fathom of Seawant amounts to three ells, some- 
times one-sixteenth less, so that in my opinion, this barter is too 
much against us, as the Indians always take the largest and tall- 
est among them to trade with us."^ 

1 N. Y. Col. Doe. i. 597. 

2 See map of Early Settlements, and also plot of the survey for an Indian walk in 
this volume. 

3 Hudde's Rep. 442, in N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. For correction of date, see O'Callag- 
han's Hist. New Netherlands, ii. 83, (note.) An application for damages to the Dutch 
government, places the Mast-maker Hook aifair in 1649, see N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 594. 

* The Dutch name for Wampum. 

^ Haz. Ann. 108 ; Hist. New Netherlands, ii. 83. The ells mentioned were probably 
Flemish ells. It might be inferred that the height of an Indian was taken for a fathom. 



54 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1649. 

The Swedish priest Campanius, after residing in the country 
six years, "sailed from Elfsborg in New Sweden" on the 18th 
of May, 1648. The Rev. Lawrence Charles Lokenius, succeeded 
Campanius, and for a time had charge of the churches at Tini- 
cum and Christina. After a time, he gave up the former but 
kept the latter till his death in 1688. The Rev. Israel Holgh 
was also a minister here in the time of Governor Printz, but 
soon returned to his native country.^ 

The disagreements between the Swedes and the Dutch are still 
continued, giving rise to a mutual hatred and jealousy. Stuy- 
vesant, in a letter to Hudde, complains of the encroachment of 
the Swedes — fears they will not stop, but admits that he does 
not know "what he shall apply as a remedy." Even plans by 
the Swedes are suggested, to interfere with the Dutch to and on 
the North river. Each party agrees to pursue the policy of 
obtaining additional grants of lands from the Indians, as the one 
most likely to strengthen its claims upon the river. As yet the 
Swedes maintain their ascendency. 

As Campanius, the elder, left New Sweden in 1648, and it is 
probable that most of the descriptions of settlements, &c,, in the 
work of his grandson were derived from him, it may not be amiss 
at this time to notice some of them that have not already claimed 
our attention. 

^'' Mecoponacka, or Upland,^ was an unfortified place, but some 
houses were built there. It was situated between Fort Christina 
and New Gottenburg, but nearer the latter. There was a fort 
built there some time after its settlement. It is good even land 
along the river shore." 

" P assay unh was giveji by the crown to the Commandant 
Swen Schute. At that place there was a fort called ICorsholm.^ 
After Governor Printz's departure for Sweden, it was abandoned 
by the Swedes, and afterwards burnt and destroyed by the 
Indians." 

^'- Manayunk^'^ or Schuylkill This was a handsome little fort, 
built of logs filled up with sand and stones, and surrounded with 
palisades cut very sharp at the top. It was at the distance of 
four German miles east of Christina. It was mounted with great 
guns as well as the other forts. Those forts were all situated on 
the water side." 

" Chinsessing was called the New Fort. It was not properly 
a fort, but substantial log houses, built of good strong hard 
hickory, two stories high, which was sufficient to secure the peo- 
ple from the Indians. But what signifies a fort without God's 

1 Campanius, 108; ib. 109, Du Ponceau's note. 

^ Now Chester. 

3 For the probable location of this fort, see the map of First Settlers. 

* For the approximate location of this fort, see map of Early Settlements. 



1651.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 55 

assistance ? In that settlement there dwelt five freemen, who 
cultivated the land and lived very well."^ 

^'' Karakung, otherwise called Water Mill stream, is a fine 
stream, very convenient for water mills : the Governor caused one 
to be erected there. It was a fine mill which ground both fine 
and coarse flour, and was going early and late ; it was the first 
that was seen in that country. There was no fort near it but 
only a strong dwelling house, built of hickory, and inhabited by 
freemen." 

" Ohammassungh, or Finland. This place was inhabited by 
Finns, who had strong houses but no fort. It lies at the distance 
of two German miles east of Christina by water ; and by land, 
it is distant two long Swedish miles." 

" Techohe7-assi, Olof Stille's place, was a small plantation, 
which was built by Swedish freemen, who gave it that name. 
They were frequently visited by Indians as it was on the river 
shore, and surrounded with water like a small island." The 
Indians named Olof on account of his tliick black beard. This 
place was near the mouth of Ridley creek. ^ 

The troubles of Governor Stuyvesant were not alone with the 
Swedes. He was constantly embroiled with his own people, and 
his New England neighbors gave him much trouble. His corres- 
pondence^ with the English, in which several transactions on the 
Delaware come under review, evinces much ability, while his 
domestic feuds show him to have been self-willed and arbitrary. 

In a communication from Secretary Van Tienhoven, to the 
States General, dated February 22nd, he suggests the planting 
of a colony at Swanendale — one on the east side of the bay, and 
a third one, " at the company's redoubt, named Beversreede," 
as the best means of preventing the further "progress of the 
Swedes."^ The subsequent policy of the Dutch, on the Delaware, 
is foreshadowed in this letter. 

Governor Stuyvesant had been advised by the Directors of the 
West India Company of their intention to apply to the Queen of 
Sweden, for the establishment of limits between the Swedes and 
Dutch on the South river.^ This may have been, in part, the 
inducement for the visit of his excellency to the Delaware, which 
happened this year. Upon his first arrival, it does not appear 
that he had a personal interview with Governor Printz — as their 
negotiations are said to have been conducted by means of " let- 
ters and messengers." After communicating to the Governor, 

1 This location has already been designated. See also map of Early Settlements. 

2 See Lindstroom's map in Campanius, 46. 

^ The correspondence of Governors Kieft and Stuyvesant with the English, and 
which extended through several year?, has been extracted from Haz. Hist. Col. and 
published in N. Y. Hist. Col. i. 189-290. 

* N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 3G1. 5 Haz. Ann. 122. 



56 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1651. 

the rights of the West India Company, bj reason of first dis- 
covery, possession and purchases from the Indians, " which 
included the Schuylkill district," he demanded him, " to show 
in like manner, by similar evidence, what lands there had been 
purchased by him or his, and were consequently conveyed to them 
by the natives and proprietors." 

" The result was only a simple writing, wherein the aforesaid 
Governor designated the Swedish limits wide and broad enough," 
alleging, that the deeds of the purchase were " in the chancery 
at Stockholm."^ This allegation, Stuyvesant regarded as a mere 
subterfuge and destitute of truth. He endeavored to sustain 
this serious charge against Printz by adducing the fact, that he 
(Printz) then, " for the first time, had tried to buy from a certain 
sachem or Indian chief named Waspangzewan, such lands as he 
already occupied, and insisted, were included within his limits." 
The fact relied on by Stuyvesant proves nothing — it being more 
likely that the offer to purchase was to get rid- of a troublesome 
claim, than to liquidate o, just one. This is rendered more pro- 
bable by the fact, that before Stuyvesant left the river, the 
Indian sachem who refused to sell to the Swedes, made a " free 
donation and gift" of the same lands to the Dutch. ^ 

This occurred on the 30th of July. On the 9th of that month, 
the very singular, and rather suspicious negotiation, was con- 
ducted, by which the Dutch pretend to have extinguished the 
Indian title to the land from Christiana kill to Bompgens hook, 
before adverted to. This was also a " free gift" except that one 
of the ceding sachems, made a condition, "that when anything 
was the matter with his gun, it shall be repaired ;" and also, 
that when he came empty among the Dutch, they were to give 
him some maize. The grantors in this case were Amattehoorn, 
Pemenatta and Sinques — who, although they claim to be the 
right owners of the west bank of the river from the Schuylkill 
downwards, declined selling the lands between that river and 
Christina, to the Dutch, They, however, do admit, that the 
Swedes did purchase the lands they occupy, but deny that it was 
from the right owners, which tJiey now claim to be. No deed 
was executed at this conference, that ceremony having been 
postponed for four years, when another grantor named Ackehoorn 
joins in a regular Indian conveyance for the same premises — the 
consideration being as usual, duffels, kettles, guns, powder, &c. 
What is remarkable in this deed, the right of fishing and hunting 
is reserved to the Indians.^ 

That the Swedes were the first to purchase from the Indians, 
the lands included within the bounds of Delaware County, has 
already been shown. The object of Governor Stuyvesant, was 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 589. ^ For this conveyance, see ib. 596. 

3 N. Y Col. Doc. i. 599. 



1651.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 67 

to make it appear, that the Swedish title was imperfect, because 
their purchase was not made from the rightful owners. Of this he 
brings no proof but the testimony of the adverse claimants, who 
themselves refuse to sell to him this particular part of their 
dominions. 

Since the arrival of the Swedes, the names of the Indian sachems 
who were owners, or who set up a claim of ownership to the 
country embracing Delaware County, are — Siscohoka, Meche- 
kyralames, Kyckesycken (Live Turkey,) Amattehoorn or Matte- 
hoorn, Pemenatta, Sinques, Wappingzewan and possibly Aqua- 
hoorn. These are given on Dutch authority.^ It will be seen 
hereafter, that the dominions of a chief named Naaman, may 
have extended within our limits.^ 

During General Stuyvesant's detention on the Delaware, a 
petition for indemnity on account of injuries sustained at the 
hands of the Swedes, at different times, and by sundry persons, 
was presented to his Excellency. Several of these have been 
noticed already; but in addition, a garden had been made back 
of Fort Beversreede, which was at once destroyed and the fence 
burnt by order of Printz. Also two person^ had commenced the 
erection of buildings on the Island of Harommuny, or Aharom- 
muny, "west of the Swedes' plantation," — one having "laid the 
ground timbers and set up the ties" — the other had " brought 
his clap-boards." In the first instance the timbers were cut 
into fire wood, and in the second the building Avas forcibly pre- 
vented, by the deputies of the Governor, Huygens and Papegoya, 
" fully armed."^ No clue is given to the location of this Island 
Aharommuny, except that it was "west of the Swedes planta- 
tion." This expression could not have applied to Tinicum, because 
there was no island west of it. It must refer to the Swedish fort 
on the Schuylkill, and assuming that to be the case, I have 
assigned the above name on the map of early settlements, to the 
island situate next westerly from that on which the Swedish fort 
is located, and at present occupied by farm buildings. This 
island was confirmed to Peter Kock on the 1st of October, 1669.* 

Having acquired an Indian title to the west bank of the river 
below Christina kill. Governor Stuyvesant at once determined to 
erect another fort, " for the greater security of the company's 
jurisdiction, and the protection of its people," and to raze Fort 
Nassau, which " lay too high up and too inconvenient a distance." 
The new fort, which was called Casimir, was erected on " a tol- 
erably suitable spot" about a league from the Swedish Fort 
Christina. Its site was within the limits of the present town of 
New Castle. Governor Printz protested against the erection of 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. i 598. 2 Campanius, 76. 3 N. Y. Col Doc. i. 595. 

* Albany MSS. Rec, " Abstracts of Patents," ii. 63. 



58 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1653. 

this new fort,^ but appears afterwards to have been reconciled to 
the measure, as before Stuyvesant took his departure from the 
river, " he had divers verbal conferences with Johan Printz, the 
Swedish Governor, and they mutually promised not to com- 
mit any hostile or vexatious acts against one another, but to 
maintain together all neighborly friendship and correspondence, 
as good friends and allies are bound to do."^ 

The doings of Stuyvesant on the Delaware were wholly upon 
his own responsibility, not having given to the West India Com- 
pany "so much as a hint of his intentions." The news was un- 
expected to the directors, and they declined to give any opinion 
on the subject until they "had heard the complaints of the 
Swedish governor to his queen, and ascertained at her court how 
these have been received."^ 

The erection of Fort Casimir rendered the Swedish Fort 
Elsinborg useless for the purpose of its original design. If any 
acts of submission were now required from Dutch vessels in pass- 
ing that fort, the same would be exacted from Swedish vessels 
in passing Fort Casimir. Elsinborg was therefore abandoned, 
as it does not appear, to have been a place of trade. The Swedes 
allege that it had become untenable from the great number of 
musquitos, and gave it the nickname of " Myggenborg or Mus- 
quito Fort."* 

Governor Printz having been accustomed to an active military 
life, became wearied of his present position, and requested per- 
mission to return to Sweden, at the same time soliciting a speedy 
reinforcement, in order to be prepared for the more threatening 
aspect that the affairs of the river had lately assumed. Not 
waiting for the arrival of his successor, he sailed for his native 
country during the present year, leaving the government in 
charge of his son-in-law, John Papegoya, Some writers have 
placed his departure in 1652,^ but this is disproved by a trading 
commission issued by him from Fort Christina the 1st of Octo- 
ber, 1653.« 

In Sweden, three persons had been convicted, each of killing 
an elk on the Island D'Auland. Two of them were sentenced 
to run the gauntlet, each three times, — the third " to be sent to 
New Sweden."'' This is perhaps the last Swedish criminal sent 
to New Sweden. 

On the 20th of August of this year, Queen Christina granted 
to Captain John Amundson Besh, and to his wife and to his heirs 

1 Holme's Ann. 356, Sub. 1651. 2 n_ y. Col. Doe. i. 590. 

3 Haz. Ann. 133, from Albany Rec. iv. 73. 

* Campanius, 80 ; Clay's Annals, 23. ^^ Clay's Annals, 24. 

^ Mr. Hazard gives this document entire in his Annals, 139, as copied from the 
Plymouth Records, Deeds, Ac. 
7 Haz. Reg. iv. 374. 



1653.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 59 

and their heirs, " a tract of land in New Sweden extending to 
Upland kill." This grant has been supposed to embrace the 
present site of Marcus Hook, but this is not probable.^ 

On the same day, another grant was made by her Swedish 
Majesty, to the " brave and courageous Lieutenant Swen 
Schute," and to his wife and to his heirs, "a tract of country in 
New Sweden, viz., Mockorhulteykyl, as far as the river, together 
with the small island belonging thereto, viz., the island Karinge 
and Kinsessing, comprehending also Passuming."^ 

To those acquainted with this region of country it will not be 
difficult to give the above grant an approximate position, but I 
have not met with anything that enabled me with any degree of 
certainty to decide upon the island embraced in the grant. 

It is a remarkable fact that on the 6th of October, just about 
the time Governor Printz sailed for Sweden; Director-general 
Stuyvesant wrote to the directors of the West India Company, 
that "the Swedes on the South river would be well inclined to 
repair among us, in case we will take them under our safe- 
guard;" adding, "that hitherto, and until we receive further in- 
formation from your honors, we decline their proposal, inasmuch 
as we know not whether it would be well or ill received."^ It 
will be remembered that a colony of Hollanders, before the 
arrival of Printz, had settled under Swedish jurisdiction, in the 
neighborhood of the place where the Dutch had erected their 
new Fort Casimir. From these such a proposition may have 
been received ; but it is highly improbable, that the regular 
Swedish settlers on the river participated in making it. 

In November of this year, the Swedish College of Commerce 
granted to John Amundson a commission as a captain in the navy. 
He was about to embark on board of a galliot belonging to the South 
Company for New Sweden, and when arrived there, part of his 
duty was to consist in superintending carefully, " the construction 
of vessels, in order that they may be faithfully built,"^ This is the 
same person to whom the grant of land " extending to Upland 
kill" was made, Besh or Besk in the name of the grantee, being 
the place of his residence. The appointment of this officer 
would indicate that the Swedish government designed to establish 
the business of building ships in New Sweden. The land gran- 
ted to Capt. Amundson, was at at a point on the river well 
adapted to that business, and was probably selected with that view. 

The letter from the Queen,^ granting Governor Printz leave to 

1 Haz. Reg. iv 374; Ferris' Original Settlements on the Delaware, 133; see also 
Haz. Ann, 138 and 454. If this grant had extended from Upland kill so as to have 
included the site of Marcus Hook, it would have included a front on the river of four 
miles, which is exceedingly improbable. See Appendix, note B. 

2 Haz. Reg. iv. 274. ^ n. y. Col. Doc. i. 600. 
* Haz. Reg. iv. 374. 5 ibid. v. 14. 



60 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1653. 

return to Sweden, is dated on the 12th of December, when it 
may be supposed he had abeady embarked. He was urged to 
delay his departure until "the best arrangements could be made 
in regard to his successor." It has been said that Printz became 
unpopular, "by the exercise of a too rigid authority."^ This 
letter is conclusive, that he possessed the entire confidence of his 
government. 

The commission^ of John Rysingh, the successor of Printz, 
bears the same date with the above letter. Both documents 
shoAV that the government contemplated the continuance of 
Printz in the country for some time longer, during which period 
Rysingh would act as his aid. But the interval between the de- 
parture of the old Governor and the arrival of the new one, during 
which the burden of the government devolved on Papegoya, 
must have been brief — not exceeding five or six months. 

The semi-romantic claim and settlement of Sir Edmund Plow- 
den or Ployden, although its vague boundaries probably included 
the district now embraced within the limits of Delaware County, 
has not been noticed in its proper order of time, because it has 
little or no historical value in connection with the early settle- 
ments on the Delaware. To show, however, that the "Earl 
Palatine of New Albion" had a real existence, and was not a 
myth, we give the following extract, from " The Representation 
of New Netherland," " We cannot omit to say," (remarks the 
author Vander Donck,) " that there has been here, (at Manhat- 
tan,) both in the time of Director Kieft, and that of General 
Stuyvesant, a certain Englishman who called himself Sir Ed- 
ward Plowden, with the title of Earl Palatine of New Albion, 
who claimed that the land on the west side of the North river to 
Virginia, was his, by gift of King James of England ; but he 
said he did not wish to have any strife with the Dutch, though he 
was very much piqued at the Swedish Governor, John Printz at 
the South river, on account of some affront given him, too long 
to relate. He said that when an opportunity should offer, he 
would go there and take possession of the river. "^ 

It is presumed the '■'■opportunity ' never did offer, and the 
reader, in consequence can only imagine the character of the 
threatened exploit. The grant was not made, however, by King 
James as mentioned in the extract, but it was obtained in the 
reign of King Charles the 1st, (1634,) from the Deputy General 
or vice-roy of Ireland.* 

The salary of Rysingh, was 1200 dollars per annum, in silver, 

1 Clay's Annals, 24. 2 Haz. Reg. 398. 

3 N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. ii. 279. (Translation by Henry C. Murphy, Esq.,) also N. 
Y. Col. Doc. i. 289. — Readers who may wish to examine this subject more fully, are 
referred to Haz. Hist. Col. ; Haz. Ann. and Mulford's Hist. N. J. 

* Hist. New Netherland, i. 281.— N. Y. Hist. Col. ii. N. S. 323, (note B.) 



1654.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 61 

" in addition to the special appointments which he might receive 
from the company of the South." His instructions^ clearly 
show that his government did not intend to vest in him the same 
powers that had been enjoyed by Printz. Until he received 
further orders, he was to " place into the hands of John Amund- 
son, all that relates to the military and the defence of the country ; 
establishing in the interim, a council formed of the best instruc- 
ted and most noble officers in the country, of which Rysingh 
shall be Director — in such a manner, however, that neither he, 
in his charge, nor John Amundson, as Governor of militia, in 
his, shall decide or approve anything, without reciprocally con- 
sulting each other." While the importance of obtaining a con- 
trol of the mouth of the river, is presented in strong general 
terms, his instructions in regard to Fort Casimir, were specific. 
" With respect to the fortress that the Dutch have built upon our 
coast, if he cannot induce them to abandon it by arguments and 
serious remonstrances, and without resorting to hostilities, it is 
better that our subjects avoid the latter, confining themselves 
solely to protestations." A fortress " lower down towards the 
mouth of the river, below that of the Dutch, in order to defend 
the passage, and render theirs useless," is recommended, but the 
recommendation is coupled with a strict injunction for " employ- 
ing the mildest measures, because hostilities will in no degree 
tend to increase the strength of the Swedes in the country." 

The commercial privileges were as liberal as could be desired, 
and in this respect, were in striking contrast with those of the 
Dutch. The purchase and cultivation of land was encouraged — 
the purchases to be made " either from the company or the sa- 
vages," and, " in respect to the lands thus purchased, subjects 
recognizing the jurisdiction of the crown of Sweden," were to 
enjoy " all franchises and allodial privileges, themselves, and 
their descendants forever." 

In consideration of the very faithful and zealous services, that 
Rysingh had rendered, and was still disposed to render, her 
Majesty granted " to him and his wife, and to their legitimate 
male heirs and their descendants, as much land in the West In- 
dies, and New Sweden as he shall be able to cultivate with 20 to 
30 peasants ; ceding to him the aforesaid country with all its 
dependencies, with all, &c., .... to enjoy, employ and keep 
the same, in the same manner and with the same franchises as 
our nobles, and as a perpetual property."^ This Royal grant was 
located on the river a short distance below New Castle. 

Arriving in new Sweden towards the end of May, 1654, on 
board of the government ship Aren, (Eagle,) Rysingh commenced 
his administration by capturing the Dutch Fort Casimir in direct 

1 Haz. Reg. iv. 399, 400. 2 lb. 398. 



62 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1654. 

violation of his instructions. There is some variation in the 
accounts given of this transaction,^ which it will not be necessary 
to notice. Gerit Bicker was in command of the fort, and seeing 
a strange sail in the distance, dispatched Secretary Van Tien- 
hoven and others, "to ascertain the particulars." The messengers 
did not return till the next day, and then only two hours in 
advance of the Swedish ship, which they reported to be full of 
people, with a new governor, who made known to them his in- 
tention to take the fort, " as it stood on ground belonging to the 
Swedish crown." Bicker was urged to give orders to defend the 
fort, but declined because " there was no powder." Soon after 
a boat's crew consisting of 20 or 30 Swedish soldiers, landed 
under the command of the former lieutenant of Governor Printz 
— Swen Schute^ who were welcomed by Bicker "as friends." 
Escorted by him, the Swedes passed immediately into the fort, 
took possession, and stripped the few Dutch soldiers by whom it 
was garrisoned of their military equipments, even of " their side 
arms." Bicker seems to have stood paralyzed, while these pro- 
ceedings were in progress, and it was not till Van Tienhoven 
made the suggestion, that he and two others were deputed to 
aemand from Governor Rysingh his authority for taking forci- 
ble possession of Fort Casimir. The governor claimed "to act 
by orders of her Majesty in Sweden," and he further informed the 
embassy that when complaints had been made by the Swedish 
Ambassador to the States General in respect to the building of 
the fort, they referred him to the West India Company, who in 
their turn denied giving any authority for its erection, and had 
further told the Swedish Ambassador, " that if our people are in 
your way there, drive them off." The truthfulness of the reply 
of Rysingh is in a measure corroborated by a letter from the 
Company to Governor Stuyvesant on the subject of the erection 
of the fort before referred to ; from which it may reasonably be 
supposed that a correspondence between them and the Swedish 
Ambassador would ensue, and that the company was disposed to 
make concessions to the Swedish crown. This correspondence 
may have resulted in additional orders to Rysingh, subsequent 
to the issuing of his general instructions, in which the capture of 
the fort was authorized. It is not, however, to be supposed that 
such orders would afford any palliation or excuse for the rash and 

1 From the official investigation by Governor Stuyvesant, together with the com- 
mandant's letter and that of Governor Rysingh to him, the most full account of the 
transaction may be obtained : for which, see, N. Y. C >1. Doc. i. 601-6U6 : also, Acre- 
lius, 414; Haz. Ann. 148 ; Hist. New Netherland, ii. 274. 

^ Mr. Hazard in his Annals, says the attacking party was commanded by Captain 
Swensko who was also the commander of the ship. And concludes that Rysingh acted 
without communicating with the Swedish authorities on the river. The fact that 
Swen Schute commanded the attacking party, shows that the authorities resident on 
the river were consulted. 



1654,] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 63 

unsoldier-like manner in which the capture was effected. Rysingh 
was not a soldier, and it does not appear that Amundson, com- 
missioned as his military colleague, accompanied him, or was 
ever in the country. 

The exploit of capturing Fort Casimir, happened on Trinity 
Sunday, and in commemoration of that circumstance, the captors 
changed the name of the fortress to Trefalldigheet or Trinity 
fort. News of the event was duly communicated to Governor 
Stuyvesant, both by Rysingh and Bicker, — their statements of 
course, varying somewhat in the details of the transaction. Three 
or four of the Dutch soldiers, including Bicker, remained on the 
river, who, Avith nearly all the Dutch freemen residing there, 
took an oath of fidelity to the Swedish governor. The depositions 
of Van Tienhoven and the 8 or 10 soldiers who returned to 
New Amsterdam, place the conduct of Bicker in a very unfavor- 
able light. His behaviour served as an invitation, to a small 
body of men, to capture the fort, Avho probably had only been 
detailed to make a formal demand for its surrender, preliminary 
to the usual negotiations in such cases. But the " brave and 
courageous Lieutenant Swen Schute," who commanded the 
Swedes, was not the man to allow so favorable an opportunity to 
pass unimproved, for he was never more in his element than when 
administering a lesson of humility to the Dutch. 

With the capture of Fort Casimir, the authority of the Dutch 
on the river, for the time being, was suspended. The Engineer 
Peter Lindstroom, who came to the country with Rysingh, caused 
this fort to be greatly strenghtened. He also laid out the town of 
Christina back of the fort of that name, and constructed a map 
of New Sweden.^ There also arrived with Rysingh several officers, 
some troops and a clergyman f and all the Dutch accounts men- 
tion that he was accompanied by a large number of people. 

We are informed by Acrelius, that Papegoya soon went home, 
and that Rysingh assumed the title of Director-general.^ 

On the 17th of June, a great convocation of Indians including 
ten sachems was held at Printz Hall on Tinicum ; at v/hich " it was 
offered on behalf of the Queen of SAveden, to renew the ancient 
league of friendship that subsisted between them and the Swedes, 
who had purchased from them the lands they occupied. The Indians 
complained that the Swedes had brought much evil upon them ; 
for many of them had died since their coming into the country," 
whereupon considerable presents were distributed among the 
Indians, which brought about a conference among themselves. 
The result was a speech from one of their chiefs, Naaman, in 

1 Engravings of these are contained in the translation of Campanius, by the late 
Peter S. Duponceau. 

^ Acrelius, 414. ^ lb. 



64: HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1654. 

which he rebuked his companions," for having spoken evil of the 
Swedes, and done them an injury, and told them he hoped they 
would do so no more, for the Swedes were very good people. 
"Look," said he, pointing to the presents, "and see what they 
have brought to us, for which they desire our friendship." So 
saying he stroked himself three times, down his arm, which among 
the Indians was a token of friendship ; afterwards he thanked the 
Swedes on behalf of his people, for the presents they had recei- 
ved, and said that friendship should be observed more strictly 
between them than it had been before ; that the Swedes and the 
Indians had been in Governor Printz's time, as one body and one 
heart, (striking his breast as he spoke,) and that thenceforward 
they should be as one head ; in token of which he took hold of 
his head with both hands, and made a motion as if he were tying 
a knot, and then he made this comparison ; that as the calabash 
was round without any crack, so they should be a compact body 
without any fissure ; and that if any one should attempt to do any 
harm to the Indians, the Swedes should immediately inform them 
of it, and on the other hand, the Indians would give immediate 
notice to the Christians of any plot against them, even if it were 
in the middle of the night. On this they were answered, that 
that would be, indeed, a true and lasting friendship, if every one 
would agree to it ; on which they gave a general shout, in token 
of consent. Immediately on this, the great guns were fired, 
which pleased them extremely ; and they said, Poo, Jioo, hoo ; 
mokirick picon ; that is to say, "hear and believe, the great guns 
are fired." Then they were treated with wine and brandy. 
Another of the Indians then stood up, and spoke and admonished 
all in general, that they should keep the league and friendship, 
which had been made with the Christians, and in no manner to 
violate the same, nor do them any injury, or their hogs or cattle, 
and that if any one should be guilty of such violation, they should be 
severely punished as an example to others. The Indians then 
advised that some Swedes should be settled at Passyunk, where 
there lived a great number of Indians, that they might be watched 
and punished if they did any mischief. They also expressed a 
wish that the title to the lands which the Swedes liad purchased, 
should be confirmed ; on which the copies of the agreements (for 
the originals had been sent to Stockholm,) were read to them word 
for word. When those who had signed the deeds, heard their 
names, they appeared to rejoice ; but when the names were read of 
those Avho were dead, they hung their heads in sorrow. Then 
there were set upon the floor in the great hall two large kettles, 
and many other vessels filled with iSappaun, which is a kind of 
hasty pudding made of Maize or Indian corn, which grows there 



1654.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 65 

in great abundance. The sachems sat bj themselves ; the other 
Indians all fed heartily and were satisfied."^ 

This proceeding, copied nearly entire from Campanius, is 
highly characteristic of such transactions with the Indians. 
Other treaties with the aborigines may have been held within 
our limits, but this is the only one, the recorded proceedings of 
which have come down to us. It is conclusive that the Swedes 
had purchased from the Indians the lands then occupied by 
them ; and the fact that one of the principal chiefs, Naaman, w^ho 
was a party to this transaction, resided on the creek that bears 
his name, renders it almost equally conclusive that the former 
purchase of the Swedes had been made from "the right owners," 
the pretension set up by the Dutch to the contrary notwith- 
standing. 

The treaty thus so solemnly made between the Swedes and 
Indians, we are informed by Campanius, " has ever since been 
faithfully observed by both sides. "^ 

A private letter from Governor Rysingh to Count , con- 
nected with the home government, dated at Fort Christina on 
the 11th of July, 1654,^ furnishes some facts worthy of notice. 
He estimates the ground (under cultivation it is supposed) as 
"four times more than when we arrived." It was also much 
better peopled, "for then," he says, "we found only 70 persons, 
and now, including Hollanders and others, there are 368 persons." 
This estimate of the population on the river is certainly only in- 
tended to embrace actual settlers, for as long ago as 1645, Hudde 
estimated the force with which Printz could man his forts, at from 
80 to 90.^ 

He takes the credit of everything that had been done to him- 
self, Captain Shute and Pappegoya ; but for the particulars and 
for all " that relates to the actual state of the country and 
colony," the minister to whom the letter was addressed is referred 
to an official communication that had been sent to him and the 
College of Commerce. Unfortunately this document is not ex- 
tant. Among the wants of the governor was that of a tvife, and 
though "sufficiently plain offers" had been made him by the 
English who had been here, he relied with more confidence " for 
this object" upon the minister, "than any other person in the 
world," and desired that he would send him "a good one." 

Christina, to whose dominions the land we live in belonged, 
now, at the age of twenty-nine years, abdicated the throne of 
Sweden in favor of her cousin, Charles Gustavus. 

The war between England and Holland having been concluded, 

1 Campanius, 77. ^ Page 78. 

^ A MS. copy of this letter is in the possession of the American Philosophical 
Society. It was first published in Haz. Ann. which see, 163. 
* Hudde's Rep. 429. 

5 



66 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1655. 

and the Dutch having been driven from the Delaware, a favor- 
able opportunity was presented to the New Englanders to renew 
their claims on the river. These were pressed on the ground of 
purchases made from the Indians, and gave rise to a correspon- 
dence between Governor Rysingh and the Commissioners of the 
United Colonies which it will not be necessary to notice. 

A Swedish vessel, called the " Golden Shark," by accident or 
design, was piloted into the Raritan river. The vessel was im- 
mediately seized by Governor Stuyvesant, who regarded this as 
a fair opportunity to force the Swedes to restore Fort Casimir. 
The event gave rise to considerable correspondence,^ which did 
not result in a restoration either of the fort or the vessel. 

The affairs of the Swedes on the Delaware were now approach- 
ing a crisis, but nothing had occurred to arouse the suspicions 
of the home government. The triumph of Rysingh was regard- 
ed as a reconquest of usurped territory, and no other means to 
reclaim it by the Dutch were apprehended, beyond the usual 
one of protest. This was a fatal delusion ; for at the close of 
1654, while estimates were being made in Sweden for the sup- 
port of their colony, during the ensuing year, on a peace basis,^ 
an armament was being fitted out in Holland, not only suflScient 
to replace "matters on the Delaware in their former position," 
but to drive "the Swedes from every side of the river." 

In the spring of 1655, five armed vessels well equipped, were 
forwarded to Stuyvesant, with a carte blanche, to charter others.^ 
The armament when completed at New Amsterdam, consisted of 
seven vessels, and from six to seven hundred men. The greatest 
caution was used in providing against every contingency, in fit- 
ting it out, and a day of thanksgiving and prayer was observed 
before the sailing of the expedition ; which happened on Sunday 
the 4th of September, '■^ after sermon." It was commanded by 
Governor Stuyvesant in person, and arrived in the bay of South 
river the next day about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The de- 
serted Swedish Fort Elsingborg was visited on the following 
day, but it was not till Friday that the expedition reached Fort 
TrinitTj or Casimir. This fortress was under the immediate 
command of Swen Schute, while Governor Rysingh in person 
had charge of Christina. To prevent a communication between 
the two forts, Stuyvesant had landed fifty men. The demand 
made by the Dutch was " a direct restitution of their own pro- 
perty," to which Commander Schute, after having had an inter- 
view with Stuyvesant, reluctantly yielded on the following day, 
upon very favorable terms of capitulation. For the reduction 

1 For this correspondence, as well as that with the Commissioners of the United 
Colonies, and proceedings connected therewith, the reader is referred to Haz. Ann. 
155-172. 

2 Haz. Reg. v. 15. ^ Hist. New Netherland, ii. 284. 



1655.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 6T 

of Fort Christina a bloodless siege of fourteen days was re- 
quired. As a matter of necessity, it yielded to an immensely 
superior force on the 25th of September, on even more favor- 
able terms than had been granted to the garrison of Fort Trinity. 

Agreeably to special instructions from the home government, 
an offer was made to restore the possession of Fort Christina to 
Governor Rysingh, but he declined the offer, preferring to abide 
by the articles of capitulation.^ 

The magnificent scale on which the expedition was got up by 
Stuyvesant for the capture of these inconsiderable forts, with 
the slow caution observed by him in conducting the siege of Fort 
Christina, borders on the ridiculous, and has afforded an ample 
field for the satire of the veritable Knickerbocker. His igno- 
rance of the weak condition of the enemy, will, in a measure, 
defend him from the shafts of ridicule, but it will be difficult to 
find an excuse for the acts of wantonness his soldiers were per- 
mitted to exercise towards the peaceable inhabitants of the 
country. If the official report of Eysingh is to be relied upon, 
"they killed their cattle, goats, swine and poultry, broke open 
houses, pillaged the people, without the sconce, of their property, 
and higher up the river they plundered many and stripped them 
to the skin. At New Gottenburg, they robbed Mr. Papegoya's 
wife of all she had, with many others, who had collected their 
property there. "^ JSTor does Rysingh fail to remind Stuyvesant 
of these unjustifiable acts. "His men," he says, "acted as if 
they had been on the lands of their inveterate enemy," as for 
example, the plundering of "Tennakong, Upland, Finlandt, 
Printzdorp, and several other places,^ * * * # ^^^ ^^ gg^y g^ word 
of what was done in Fort Christina, Avhere women were violently 
torn from their houses, whole buildings destroyed, and they 
dragged from them, yea, the oxen, cows, swine and other crea- 
tures, were butchered day after day ; even the horses were not 
spared, but wantonly shot, the plantations destroyed, and the 
Avhole country left so desolate, that scarce any means are re- 
maining for the subsistence of the inhabitants." He also tells 
him, "your men took away at Tennekong, in an uncouth manner, 
all the cordage and sails of a new vessel, and then they went to 
the magazine, and without demanding the keys entered it alone, 
broke the boards of the church, and so took away the cordage 
and sails."* 

1 Hist. New Netherland, ii. 289. ^ n. y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 446. 

^ Smith, in his history of N. J. says, they " destroyed New Gottenburg, with such 
houses as were without the fort, plundering the inhabitants of what they had and kill- 
ing their cattle," p. 34. It would appear from Smith's account of the transaction, that 
the fort at Tinicum was defended fourteen days, and that the depredations were com- 
mitted previous to its surrender. 

* Rysingh's reply to Stuyvesant, Haz. Ann. 201 ; as extracted from Albany Records, 
xiii. 363-367. 



68 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1655. 

Campanius says " the Dutch proceeded to destroy New Got- 
tenburg, laying waste all the houses and plantations without the 
fort, killing the cattle and plundering the inhabitants of every- 
thing that they could lay their hands on." A late writer^ con- 
cludes that "this is unquestionably erroneous," and assigns tAvo 
reasons for his opinion. First, " the Dutch had no motive for 
such destructive cruelty, the country being now theirs by a 
formal surrender and they were bound by their treaty at Chris- 
tina," &c. Second, "that the church at Tinicum was standing 
twelve years afterwards, and Printz Hall at the commencement 
of the present century." But the writer has failed to observe, 
that the depredations were committed during the siege of Fort 
Christina, and not after its surrender and the conclusion of the 
treaty ; and that a fair construction of the language of Campa- 
nius will not warrant the inference that any building, except the 
fort, was actually destroyed. 

The Dutch were not, however, permitted to practice these 
cruelties towards the Swedes with impunity. Even before the 
return of the fleet to New Amsterdam, to use the language of 
Governor Stuyvesant, "it pleased God to temper this our victory 
with such an unfortunate and unexpected accident, as New 
Netherland never witnessed, inasmuch as in less than three days, 
over forty of our nation were massacred by the barbarous 
natives ; about one hundred, mostly women and children, taken 
prisoners ; boweries and some plantations burnt and laid in 
ashes, and in and with them over 12,000 schepels of grain yet 
unthrashed."^ With one half of the force taken to the Delaware, 
the conquest of the Swedes would have been equally certain, and 
far more creditable to the conquerors, while the other half could 
have guarded their own people against such a dreadful calamity. 

By the terms of capitulation^ of Fort Christina, all the Swedes 
and Finns who desired to remain in the country, were obliged to 
take an oath of allegiance to the States General of the United 
Netherlands — even those who intended to leave, but who were 
obliged to remain for a time to dispose of their lands and settle 
up their business, (for which one year and six weeks were allow- 
ed,) were not exempted from taking the oath, to be binding so 
long as they remained. 

Thus ended Swedish sovereignty on the continent of America. 
Deriving its only title from the savages, which is not recognized 
by the law of nations, no very protracted endurance could have 
been anticipated for the colony as a dependency of Sweden ; but 

1 Ferris' Original Settlements on the Delaware, 97. 

2 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 6.39. 

3 For this paper, see Col. Doc. i. 607, Acrelius 415 and Haz. Ann. 187, in which work 
sub. an. 1655, all the important papers connected with the capture of the Swedish forts 

. will be found. 



1655.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 69 

its sudden downfall was manifestly the direct result of the rash, 
unjustifiable and unauthorized acts of Governor Rysingh, in 
capturing Fort Casimir. 

y The hardships of the Swedes, though they were not protracted 
under the Dutch government, did not terminate with the capture 
of their forts. We are informed by Acrelius, that " the flower 
of their troops were picked out and sent to New Amsterdam, 
under the pretext of their free choice, the men were forcibly 
carried on board the ships. The women were ill treated in their 
houses, the goods pillaged, and the cattle killed."^ 

But little has come down to us in respect to the domestic 
aKiministration of affairs in the Swedish Colony. The admims- 
tration of justice was doubtless conducted by means of a military 
tribunal of which the Governor was the head. Printz felt himself 
disqualified for the performance of the duties of a judge, and in 
a dispatch to the Swedish West India Company, dated February 
20th, 1647, he makes known his difficulty in this wise : " Again, 
I have several times solicited to obtain a learned and able man. 
1st, To administer justice and attend to the law business, some- 
times very intricate cases occurring, in which it is difficult, and 
never ought to be for one and the same person to appear in Court 
as plaintiff as well as judge. "^ .... As the seat of govern- 
ment was located at Tinicum from the commencement of the 
Administration of Governor Printz, it may be concluded that the 
seat of justice was also located there. 

Mrs. Papegoya the daughter of Governor Printz, it will have 
been seen did not return to Sweden with her husband. For 
many years she continued to reside at Tinicum, rather in poverty 
than affluence. Tinicum is no longer mentioned as a fortified 
place, and if the fort was not destroyed by the Dutch as mentioned 
by Campanius, it Was suffered by them to go into decay. 

The government of the Dutch on the river was established by 
the appointment of John Paul Jaquet as vice-director, and com- 
mander-in-chief, and Andreas Hudde ■as secretary and surveyor, 
and keeper of the keys of the fort, &c. The council was to consist 
of the vice-dn-ector, Hudde, Elmerhuysen Klien and two sergeants 
in purely military affairs ; in matters purely civil, or between 
freemen and- the company's servants, two of the most expert 
freemen were to be substituted for the two sergeants. The in- 
structions given Jaquet, show a want of confidence in the Swedes. 
" Good notice" was to be taken of their behaviour, and incase 
any of them were found to be not well affected, they were re- 
quired to depart, "with all imaginable civility," and if possible 

1 Acrelius, 417. 

'^ Record of Upland court, 29, (note) as copied from Swedish MSS., Archive 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 



70 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1656. 

to be sent to New Amsterdam; and no Swede living in the 
country was to remain in the fort all night. The seat of govern- 
ment was established at Fort Casimir — provision having been 
made for extending the town, which took the name of New 
Amstel. 

" In granting lands, care was to be taken that a community 
of 16 or 20 persons reside together. The rent to be 12 stivers 
per morgen, per annum ; but permission to plant was only to be 
granted, on taking an oath to assist the fort, or to be transported 
in case they refuse the oath."^ 

" The free persons of the Swedish nation residing on the second 
corner above Fort Cassimer" solicit counsel "that they may re- 
main on their lands, as they have no inclination to change their 
abode, neither to build in the new village," claiming the promise 
made to them by Stuyvesant. Their petition was granted until 
the expiration of the year and six weeks, mentioned in the 
capitulation. 

As evidence that the Swedish government had been kept in 
ignorance of the intended conquest of New Sweden by the Dutch, 
was the arrival on the 24th of March, 1656, of the Swedish ship 
Mercury^ with 130 souls on board, intended as a reinforcement 
to the colony. They were forbidden to pass the fort, but a party 
of Indians joined the crew and conducted the ship up the river, 
the Dutch not venturing to fire a gun against them.^ 

The Mercury was allowed to pass the fort owing to the num- 
ber of Indians on board, the Dutch feeling no disposition to pro- 
voke their animosity,^ The passengers of the Mercury were 
landed contrary to the direct orders, sent at considerable trouble, 
from New Amsterdam, but the captain and crew of the vessel 
were exonerated from all censure ; the responsibility resting with 
the Indians and resident Swedes. Among the passengers was 
Mr. Papegoya the son-in-law of Governor Printz, who wrote to 
Governor Stuyvesant immediately upon his arrival. There were 
also two clergymen on board, one of whom, named Matthias, who 
continued to reside in the country during two years. Andres 
Bengston was also a passenger who was still living in this country 
in 1703.^ 

Much negotiation was occasioned in consequence of the arrival 
of the Mercury,^ and though the Dutch government never yielded 
its assent to the landing of the immigrant passengers, they all 
did land and probably most of them remained in the country. 
The vessel was allowed to proceed to New Amsterdam and dis- 

1 Haz. Ann. 205-6. ^ Aerelius as taken from N. Y. Rec. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doc. iii. 343. 

* Clay's Ann. 29. — Aerelius represents Mr Bengston as a clergyman, 419. 
5 Most of the papers connected with this transaction, copied from the Albany 
Records, will be found in Haz. Ann. 211-219. 



1656.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 71 

charge her cargo at a reduced duty, and to take in provision for 
her return voyage. 

The conquest of New Sweden was not quietly acquiesced in 
by the home government. Their minister protested against the 
outrage, and claimed restitution,^ but this claim was disregarded ; 
the Dutch being well aware that nothing more serious than paper 
missiles could be resorted to, the Swedes at that time being en- 
gaged in a war with Poland. The Directors of the West India 
Company did not hesitate to communicate to Stuyvesant their 
approbation, in general, of his conduct.^ 

After Governor Printz left the country, his plantation at 
Tinicum seems to have been very much neglected, and for a time 
wholly abandoned. The interference of Commander Jaquet to 
prevent his daughter, Mrs. Papegoya from resuming the possess- 
ion of the property, gave this lady occasion to memorialize the 
Director-general. She says, "It is, without doubt, well known 
to the Director-general, that our late lord governor, my highly 
revered lord and father, prepared a farm, partly cultivated by 
freemen, who are returned to Sweden, and surrendered it to him, 
and partly cleared by his orders, and cultivated for several years ; 
that this was granted by the King (Queen ?), and by the present 
royal majesty was confirmed, but which now since three years, 
being abandoned, was again covered with bushes, and the dwel- 
ling-house nearly destroyed by the Indians, and so I have been 
obliged to repair it, by three Finns, and to sow its fields, when, 
unexpectedly, I was forbidden by the present commander, to take 
possession of it again ; wherefore I am compelled to inform the 
Director-general of this event, with humble supplication that it 
may please him graciously, and from the friendship between him 
and my lord and father, to favor me with this possession, as I 
am confident his honor will do ; and solicit further that my people 
may remain unmolested at Printzdov'p^ and continue to cultivate 
its soil ; and that his Honor, &c., may be pleased to grant me, 
for my greater security, letters patent for that spot, and so too 
for Tinnakonk. I hope that my lord and father will acknowledge 
it as a mark of great friendship, and as far as it is in his power, 
be remunerated with thankfulness ; with which I recommend the 
Director-general to the protection of God Almighty. Dated at 
Tinnakonk August 3, 1656. The Director General's humble 
servant, Armgard Printz."^ 

1 Haz. Reg.i. 36; N. Y.Col. D'oc.i. 587, 515, <fce.; Haz. Ann. 210. The final settlement 
of this controversy was not made till 1667. See Hist. New Netherland, ii. Appendix H. 

2 The directors regarded the capitulation as too formal, and make that the occasion 
of giving Stuyvesant a lesson in diplomacy. " What is tcritten and copied," they say 
" is too long preserved, and may sometime, when it is neither desired nor expected, be 
hroiight forward, whereas words not recorded, are hy length of time forgotten, or may 
he explained, construed or excused. Haz. Ann. 209. 

^ The precise location of Printzdorp will be established hereafter. 
* Albany Ree. xi. 518; xiii. 154; Haz. Ann. 219. 



72 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1657. 

" The suppliant is penpaitted, agreeably to the capitulation, to 
take possession of the lands of her lord and father in Frintzdorp, 
and to use it to her best advantage," was the response of the 
Director-general. 

The Dutch West India Company had become greatly embar- 
rassed by the large amount of their debts, which had been in- 
creased by the aid afforded by the city of Amsterdam, towards 
the conquest of the Swedes on the Delaware. To liquidate this 
debt, that part of the South river extending from the west side 
of Christina kill to the mouth of the bay, " and so far as the 
Minquas land extended" was, after much negotiation, transferred 
to that city, with the company's rights and privileges, and sub- 
ject to conditions agreed upon by the contracting parties. These 
conditions with a slight modification, were ratified by the States 
General on the 16th August, 1656 — the Colony thus established 
taking the name of Nieuer Anutel} 

As the jurisdiction of the City's Colony, as thus established, 
did not extend over the district claiming our particular attention, 
the doings within it will only be briefly noticed. The government 
of the Colony was organized by the establishment of a board of 
commissioners to reside in the City of Amsterdam ; 40 soldiers 
were enlisted and placed under the command of Captain Martin 
Krygier, and Lieutenant Alexander D'Hinoyossa, and 150 emi- 
grants, freemen and boors, were forthwith dispatched, in three 
vessels, to settle in the new Colony. Jacob Alrichs accompanied 
the expedition as Director of New Amstel? 

Alrichs assumed the government of the Colony towards the 
close of April, 1657, when Hudde was appointed to the com- 
mand at Fort Christina, (the name of which was changed to Al- 
tona,) and also of New Gottenburg.^ 

Over the Swedes and Finns, who were exclusively the inhabi- 
tants of the river above the Colony of the City of Amsterdam, 
Goeran Vandyck had been appointed with the title of schout fis- 
scal and under him Anders Jurgen. 

Goeran Vandyck, the schout, suggested to Stuyvesant the 
necessity of concentrating the Swedish inhabitants, and procured 
from him a proclamation inviting them to assemble in one settle- 
ment, either at Upland, Passayunk, Finland, Kingsessing or 
where they pleased. The invitation was not accepted.* The 
appointment of " one Jurgin the Finn on Crooked Kill,'" as court 
messenger is mentioned.^ 

Andries Hudde, who held a military command under the 
Company, was also provisionally engaged in the New Amstel 
Colony, as clerk in •' the dispatch of law suits and occurring 

1 See, N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 619-636; Hist. New Netherland, ii. 327-337. 

2 N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 441-446. 3 Hist. New Netherland, ii. 336. 
* Acrelius, 421. 5 Haz. Ann. 236. 



1658.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 73 

differences;" and as he understood "somewhat of surveying" he 
was also employed in that capacity.^ 

Evert Pieterson, who held the office of schoolmaster, comforter 
of the sick and setter of the psalms, in the City Colony, writes 
to the commissioners that upon his arrival in April, he found but 
twenty families in New Amstel, all Swedes except five or six 
families. He appears to have been a man of observation, and 
suggests our black walnut timber for making gun-stocks ; requests 
that inquiries be made of the gunsmiths in respect to its value, 
and in what shape it should be cut. In August he had a school 
of twenty-five children.^ This is the first school established on 
the river of which we have any account. 

Director Alrichs not only communicated with the Commission- 
ers of Amsterdam City, but also with Stuyvesant. He advises 
that seventy-five men be sent to Altona, thereby showing that 
he was under some apprehensions on account of the Swedes.^ 

The winter of 1657 was remarkable for its severity. " The 
Delaware was frozen over in one night, so that a deer could run 
over it, which, as the Indians relate, had not happened within 
the memory of man."* 

In the spring of 1658, a vessel which had taken in hickory 
wood at Altona that was cut by Stuyvesant's orders, completed 
her cargo with rye straiv at Tinicum.' 

The affairs of the South river, in the opinion of Governor 
Stuyvesant and his council, "required to be examined into," and' 
"some regulations" also becoming necessary among the Swedes, 
his excellency in person, accompanied by Mr. Tonneman repaired 
to the river, and on the 8th of May in this year, visited Tinicum. 
Here they were met by the scout or sheriff Van Dyck ; Olofl" 
Stille, Mathys Hanson, Pieter Rambo and Pieter Cock, magis- 
trates ; Swen Schute Captain, Andries D'Albo. Lieutenant, and 
Jacob Swenson Ensign. After renewing their oath of allegiance 
to "the high and mighty lords, the States General of the United 
Netherlands and lords directors of the general privileged West 
India Company with the director general and council already 
appointed, or in time being," these Swedish officials presented 
their petition, asking, that a court messenger might be appointed 
for executions ; for free access to the soldiers of Altona, in case 
they wish their aid for the execution of resolves ; that no person 
shall leave their limits without the knowledge of the magistrates, 
much less male and female servants, &c. Some subsidies were 
also asked for. The Director-general thought the jailor could 
perform the duties of court messenger, as he is now employed 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 18. 2 lb. ir. 

^ Haz. Ann. 240, as extracted from Albany Ree. xii. 437. 

* Campanius, 55. 5 jjaz. Ann. 241. 



lA HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1658. 

by the sheriff and commissioners to make summons, arrests and 
executions. Free access to the soldiers was granted, if solicited 
by the sheriff. No person was to leave without the consent of 
the commissary, first obtained of the Director-general and council, 
and subsidies were allowed, "when they can be obtained with least 
incumbrance to the Swedish nation." Those who had not taken 
the oath of allegiance were required to do so.^ 

It is probable that the above named petitioners, except Van 
Dyck, constituted what remained of an organized government at the 
close of the Swedish authority on the river. The articles of capitula- 
tion are silent in respect to a continuance of Swedish officers in 
power, but it would appear that those who remained in the coun- 
try and took the oath of allegiance to the Dutch government, con- 
tinued to exercise their functions, in which they seem to have 
been ofiicially recognized by the Director-general at the meeting 
at Tinicum. Unfortunately, no record of their official acts has 
been preserved. 

After the Director-general returned to New Amsterdam, he 
reported to the Council that the Swedes, after taking the oath 
of allegiance, desired that in the case of a difference between the 
crown of Sweden and the Netherlands in Europe, that they might 
occupy the position of neutrals, which was agreed to. The 
military officers mentioned at the meeting at Tinicum were at 
the same time elected to their respective offices.^ 

But the Director in his visit to the South river had found 
"many things there, not as they ought to be, chiefly smuggling 
and fraud on the Company's recognitions on goods imported 
from Holland." The city of Amsterdam being subject to the 
"same regulations as others," in respect to duties and tolls and 
all matters connected with the revenue, it became necessary for 
the West India Company to have an officer of their own, whose 
jurisdiction in respect to such matters should extend over the 
whole river. William Beekman, a schepen (alderman) and elder 
of New Amsterdam, was selected for this position, with the title 
of commissary and vice-director.^ Outside of the New Amstel 
district he was also charged with the administration of civil and 
criminal justice and the superintendence of military affairs. 
Within that district, as the oflicer of the city of Amsterdam, 
this authority was vested in Alrichs. Beekman was to occupy 
provisonally "the dwelling-house in Fortress Altona," but his 
permanent residence was to be at or near New Amstel, where he 
was authorized to hire convenient rooms or a dwelling for a year 
at the expense of the Company.^ He probably continued to re- 
side at Altona. 

1 Haz. Ann. 243, extracted from Albany Rec. xiv. 249. 

2 Haz. Ann. 244 ; Albany Rec. xiv. 245. 

3 Aerelius, 421. * lb. 421 ; Albany Rec. xiv. 314. 



1659.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 75 

The summer of 1658 was a season of great sickness and mor- 
tality at New Amstel and the surrounding country. In a letter 
from Alrichs to the commissioners of the City Colony, dated 
on the 10th of October of this year, he speaks of " two parcels 
of the best land on the river on the west bank, the first of which," 
he says, " is above Marietens hook, about two leagues along the 
river and 4 leagues into the interior ; the second on a guess, 
about 3 leagues along the same including Skuylkil, Passajonck, 
Quinsessingh, right excellent land, the grants or deeds whereof 
signed in original by Queen Christina, I have seen ; they remain 
here." He also expresses the belief that " the proprietors as 
they style themselves, or those who hold the ground briefs," 
would willingly dispose of these lands for a trifle, according to 
their value or worth. ^ 

The documents connected with this period of the history of 
the Delaware are very voluminous, but they relate chiefly to the 
colony of New Amstel and its vicinity. The Swedes, who were 
the exclusive occupants of the river higher up, were constantly 
looked upon with suspicion, which was increased by their appli- 
cation to be considered as neutrals in case of a diflerence between 
Sweden and the Netherlands. The Holland directors of the 
Company regarded the application as "a bold proposal," and 
condemned the appointment of Swedish oflScers made by Stuyve- 
sant. The error was to be corrected by supplying their places 
with officers of the Dutch nation, and the first favorable oppor- 
tunity was to be embraced to disarm them, upon the least 
symptom of disaffection. Even the Swedish sheriff" and commis- 
saries were to be supplanted by Dutchmen at the expiration of 
their terms, "to render their associations fruitless and to dis- 
cover their machinations with more ease." "Fair means" were 
also to be used to induce the Swedes to settle among the Dutch 
inhabitants.^ 

The prosperous commencement of the City Colony was soon 
followed by evils that almost threatened its dissolution. Sick- 
ness, a scarcity of provisions and failure of crops, followed by a 
severe winter, spread dismay and discontent among the people. 
The arrival of additional settlers not properly supplied with pro- 
visions greatly increased the prevailing distress. In the midst 
of this general gloom, news arrived that the Burgomasters of 
Amsterdam had changed the conditions on which the colonists 
had agreed to emigrate, making them less favorable to the emi- 
grants.^ Discontent was increased, and many of the inhabitants 
deserted to Maryland, carrying with them the news of the dis- 

1 N. Y. Col Doc. ii. 5.3. 

^ Haz. Ann. 262, as quoted from Albany Ree. iv. 291-292. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 57. 



76' HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1659. 

tressed condition of the colony. News of a threatened invasion 
by the English reached the ears of the colonists, and added to 
the general feeling of insecurity. In the midst of this anxiety 
and alarm, commissioners from Maryland arrived with a letter 
from Governor Fendal and instructions to command the Dutch 
to leave, or to acknowdedge themselves subjects of Lord Balti- 
more.^ An immediate answer was demanded, but at length 
Col. Utie, the head of the Maryland commission, granted a 
delay of three weeks in order that Alrichs and Beekman might 
confer with their superiors. Upon being advised of the visit of 
the Maryland commissioners, Governor Stuyvesant forw^arded a 
reinforcement of sixty soldiers, with Captain Krygier and Secre- 
tary Van Ruyven to regulate matters on the South river. He 
also sent Augustine Heemans and Resolved Waldron as ambas- 
sadors to Maryland, with instructions to remonstrate against 
Col. Utie's proceedings, and to negotiate a treaty for the mutual 
rendition of fugitives. Upon the arrival of the ambassadors in 
Mai-yland a protracted conference ensued, in which the Dutch 
title to the lands on the Delaware river and bay was defended 
with considerable ability.^ 

The land from Bombay Hook to Cape Henlopen was secured 
by purchase from the savages, and a fort erected a Hoern kill as 
a further security against the English claim. It was attached 
to the district of New Amstel. 

Alrichs had become unpopular from the exercise of a too 
rigid authority. The clashing of interests between the city and . 
the Company, taken in connection with the adverse circumstan- 
ces with which he was surrounded, rendered his position one of 
great difficulty. But death^ relieved him from his troubles 
towards the close of the year — his wife having departed this life 
at its commencement. Previous to his death, Alrichs nominated 
Alexander D'Hinoyossa as his successor and Gerit Van Gezel as 
secretary. 

The Burgomasters of the City of Amsterdam, soon discovered 
that their colony of New Amstel would be attended with more 
expense and trouble than profit, and entered into negotiations 
with the company for a re-transfer of the same to them. Trade 
was the prime object of the company, and as the city colony 
served as a defence to the southern border of New Netherland 
without diminishing their commercial advantages, the negotiation, 
of course, was a failure. 

In September, 1659, Alrichs says there are 110 houses in New 

1 Acrelius, 422 ; N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 73. 

2 Dr. O'Callaghan attributes the position that the State of Delaware now occupies 
as an independent sovereignty, to the stand taken by the Dutch in 1659. Hist. New 
Netherland, ii. 388. 

3 Hist. N. Netherland, ii. 375 ; Acrelius, 423. 



16G0.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 77 

Amstel, 16 or 17 more on land belonging to the Dutch, and 13 
or 14 belonging to the Swedes.^ In a proposition to tax the 
Swedes and Finns within the jurisdiction of the West India Com- 
pany, towards the close of 1659, the number of their families is esti- 
mated at 200. By estimating five persons to each family at the 
close of this year, the whole European population of the river 
would amount to 1,700. 

The Burgomasters of the City of Amsterdam failing to get 
rid of their American Colony, made a new loan, and showed a dis- 
position to act with more vigor in promoting the interests of the 
colonists. A year, however, was allowed to pass away before 
the inhabitants of New Amstel felt the invigorating efi"ects of this 
change in the policy of their rulers. They were even in a state 
of uncertainty during the most of the year 1660, whether ar- 
rangements had not been made for their re-transfer to the Com- 
pany. As a consequence, many disorders ensued, among which 
jangling and quarreling among the officials were the most promi- 
nent. 

As a means of averting the evils with which the colony was 
surrounded, days of public thanksgiving were occasionally obser- 
ved, but this year the ungodly council of New Amstel command- 
ed that " a fast and prayer day should be holden on the first 
Monday of each month. "^ 

Sherifi" Van Dyck estimates the number of men in the " Swe- 
dish and Finnish nation," capable of bearing arms at 130. 
Some of them were allowed to be enlisted as soldiers, while at 
the very same time an order from Stuyvesant was in force to 
collect them all into one or two villages. 

Preparatory to carrying this unjust and unreasonable order 
into execution, Beekman spent a few days amongst the Swedes 
and Finns, and found that difi"erent settlements could not converse 
with each other, "for want of a knowledge of their reciprocal 
language." There was a difference of opinion between the sett- 
lers about Aroumerk and those of ICeneses, as to which was the 
more eligible for the proposed Swedish village. It was argued 
against the latter " that there was no defence whatever, neither 
a place for safe retreat, as considerable under-wood and many 
streams must be passed;" and in favor of Arounderyk, that 
" there is a pretty large kill, which might be chosen to cover a 
retreat or prepare for defence." Besides " at Arounderyk 
they might cultivate their fields on the other side of the kill, on 
the Passayung road, where is a rich, fruitful soil, and last har- 
vest a considerable quantity of seed was sowed." He found 
some willing to compromise, by accepting the proposals, while 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 76. 

2 Beekman's letter, Haz. Ann. 303, as quoted from Albany Rec. xvii, 39. 



78 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1660, 

Others were for maintaining their own rights, in keeping their 
own farms and lots. Miss Printz, (as Mrs. Papegoya is usually 
called by the Dutch writers,) was among the latter. She could 
not remove her residence, " the heavy building not permitting 
her to change it, and the church where she usually worships being 
upon that spot." She says further that "she offers her lands 
without any compensation, but can nevertheless induce no 
person to settle in her neighborhood."^ 

Finding that the Swedes could not agree among themselves, 
Beekman commanded a list to be delivered to him within eight 
or ten days, designating where it suits best for every person to 
fix his future residence ; promising his assent in case it comport- 
ed with the Governor's order ; otherwise he would be compelled 
to designate where each of them should reside. At the urgent 
request of the Swedes, from four to six weeks more time was 
granted ; Miss Pi'intz and others requesting Beekman to aid them ; 
for which purpose, he informs Stuyvesant, " more soldiers will be 
required." At the solicitation of the Swedish Commissaries, 
Beekman asks permission from the Governor to allow the Swe- 
dish nation, "to remain in their present possessions till they have 
harvested their corn." He had understood that they intended to 
unite them in one village at Perslajougli^ kc. Peter Kock, 
Peter Andrieson and Hans Moenson were among those who took 
a decided stand against removing to Passayunk. There was not 
sufficient land obtained there "for the pasture of their creatures," 
and they " ardently wished not to remove." They add " if com- 
pelled to go, then we will go, or depart to a spot where we may 
live in peace.' '^ 

Beekman eventually became convinced of the injustice of the 
order for removing the Swedes into one village. He represented 
to Stuyvesant that it was "unmerciful to force people from their 
cultivated lands, and put them to new labor and expense." The 
Swedes w^ere therefore allowed to remain at their respective 
settlements ; a result not brought about by any kind feelings en- 
tertained towards them by the Director-general. Persuasion had 
failed, and as for compulsion, the means were not at hand. The 
Swedes outnumbered the Dutch on the river, and within the ter- 
ritory of the company, very few if any Dutch had settled. Dis- 
sensions were also rapidly growing between the officials of the 
two Colonies. More favorable privileges being offered by D'Hin- 
oyossa, a number of Swedes had joined the city colony, and 
others had removed to Sassafras river."* Apprehensions that the 
whole Swedish territory would be abandoned, may also have had 
some weight in suspending the operation of this iniquitous measure. 

1 Beekman's letter to Stuyvesant, Haz. Ann. 306. 

2 Passayunk. '^ Haz. Ann. 314. * Acrelius, 422. 



1661.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 79 

The Dutch having got into difficulties with the Esopus Indians 
on the North River, sent to the Swedes and Finns for recruits. 
They could not be persuaded to go to Esopus as soldiers ; though 
" they would not be unwilling, provided they could remain there 
in peace with the savages."^ The sheriiF, Van Dyck, and some 
of the commissaries, are accused with discouraging, and actually 
preventing, some individuals from emigrating to Esopus. 

Miss Printz, instead of her recognitions, (taxes) requests per- 
mission to make payment in a fat ox, fat hogs, bread and corn,^ 

The seat of justice for the company s jurisdiction was at Altona, 
where annually three or four courts were held "as circumstances 
might require." Among the Finns was a married couple who 
lived together in constant strife, the wife being daily beaten and 
"often expelled from the house like a dog."^ A divorce was 
solicited by the priest, the neighbors, the sheriff and commissaries, 
on behalf of these parties, and that their small property and 
stock be divided between them. The matter was referred to the 
Governor, but the result is not known. As the parties were 
Finns, they probably resided in the vicinity of Marcus Hook. 

The Swedish priest had married a young couple against their 
parents' consent, and without the usual proclamations, for which 
-he was fined 50 guilders. Oloff Stille was suspected by Beek- 
man of having "arrogated to himself to qualify the priest," to 
ofiiciate at the marriage, for which Oloff opposed him pretty 
warmly at court, denying Beekman's right to meddle with the 
affair, that being the province of the Swedish consistory. Even 
in a case of assault and battery committed on the Swedish priest, 
the jurisdiction of the court was questioned.* 

About this time, mention is made of Israel Helm carrying on 
trade at Passayung. He took a prominent part in the transac- 
tions on the river till some time after the arrival of Penn. 

Beekman becomes alarmed in consequence of a threatened war 
between the Indians and the English of Maryland, and is appre- 
hensive that the savages wuU again claim and take possession of 
these lands, or that they will he eventually settled with English 
and Swedes. 

During the early part of 1661, Oloff Stille, one of the commis- 
saries, with a few Finns, visited Maryland for the purpose of 
taking up land and emigrating there in the spring. Not finding 
their friends on Sassafras river in the satisfactory condition they 
expected, the project was abandoned, and Stille on his return, 
expressed the opinion that many, if not all the Finns, then re- 

1 Beekman's letter, Haz. Ann. 309. 

2 Acrelius has understood this as an annual bounty to Mrs. Papegoya, on account 
of her poverty, evidently a mistake. See p. 423. 

^ D'Hinoyosa's & Beekman's letter, Haz. Ann. 310, as quoted from the Albany Rec. 
svii. 51. * lb. 



80 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1662. 

siding there "would return hither." In that event, Beekman 
suggested to the Governor that they might unite in one village at 
or near Perslajong^ (Passayunk) " and not be permitted again in 
separate spots as is the custom with that sort of men."^ 

A sad misfortune now befell the Swedish priest Mr. Laers, or 
Laurentius Carets, as he signs his name. One Jacob Jough 
eloped with his wife, and although Beekman speedily dispatched 
expresses in different directions, the fugitives were not arrested, 
but the trunk of Jough with various articles of Mr. Laers' pro- 
perty, was found at Upland. Not a month had elapsed till Mr. 
Laers solicited the consent of the vice director to marry again, 
his intended bride being but 17 or 18 years of age, and as yet no 
divorce had been decreed between him and his unfaithful spouse. 
This was too grave a matter to be determined by Beekman alone, 
and was accordingly delayed in order to obtain the approbation 
of Governor Stuyvesant. But the reverend gentleman became 
impatient, and at the expiration of two weeks renewed his appli- 
cation for permission to marry, " as the situation of his family 
imperiously requires it."^ 

A war is at this time in progress between the Senecas and 
Minquas Indians, the small-pox being prevalent in the latter 
nation at the same time. Great alarm spread among the Euro- 
pean inhabitants, which was fully shared by the Swedes ; for the 
Senecas were as little known to them as to the Dutch. 

During the early part of this year, the Common Council of the 
city of Amsterdam, by means of commissioners appointed for 
that purpose, went into a thorough examination of the causes 
that had heretofore defeated all their efforts to render the colony 
of New Amstel prosperous. The result was a negotiation with 
the West India Company for an amplification of the privileges of 
the city in respect to trade ; of the powers of the local government 
rendering it less dependent on the Director-general, and an ex- 
tension of their territory, so as to embrace the east side of the 
river as high up as their present limits extended, and the west 
side to Upland kili.^ 

The introduction of negroes as laborers, had now become more 
general on the river. As early as 1657, complaints were made 
against Vice Director Alrichs, "for using the company's oxen 
and negroes," and in a letter from Beekman to Director-general 
Stuyvesant, dated on the 18th of March, 1662, he "solicits most 
seriously," that his Honor "would accommodate him with a 
company of negroes, as he is very much in want of them in many 
respects.'"' 

The case of the Swedish priest grows desperate. He obtained 

1 Haz. Ann. 323. 2 j^. 328, Ac. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doe. ii. 168-173, &c. * Haz. Ann. 331. 



1662.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 81 

a divorce from the council which does not appear sufficient in 
the eyes of his tormentors, and he then proceeded "to marry him- 
self." But his greatest offence, it would seem, consisted in break- 
ing open a door at Upland, and opening the trunk of the man 
who stole his wife. The following are the proceedings in the 
case before the court at Altorwi, composed of Vice Director 
Beekman, and Commissaries Peter Kock, Matthys Hanson, and 
Oloff Stille, as justices or commissaries. 

" Hon. Vice Director as Sheriff, plaintiff versus Rev. Laers 
Carols, Defendant. The plaintiff concludes, as it is of notoriety, 
and acknowledged by the Defendant, that on the SOth of Sep- 
tember, 1661, he. Minister Laers committed the violence in 
breaking the room open, and opening the trunk of the fugitive 
Jacob Jough, when said Jough the night before absconded, and 
made an inventory of his property, which he left behind, as is 
evident by his own handwriting, to which the defendant was not 
qualified, which ought to have been done by the Vice Director 
and the court, and that he usurped and suspended their authority, 
and villified it, wherefore he remains answerable and holden to 
make compensation to the company of what was yet due the 
company by said absconded Jough, of which the residue amounts 
to 200 gl. in corn and 40 gl. in beaver, which is to be delivered 
and besides this, an amende of 40 gl. for having vilified author- 
ity. Defendant said, he came at that time to the house of 
Andries Hendrieson Finn, and asked him if his wife was with J. 
Jough in his room, when the wife of Andries Finn, answered, 
that she did not know it, that her master might look at it, on 
which he took an axe and broke the door, and made an inventory 
of the goods. The commissioners having considered the case, 
commanded that the Rev. Laers shall satisfy the demand, 200 gl. 
and pay for his insolence."^ 

The defendant was eventually sentenced to pay the above 200 
gl. which had been advanced to Jough to buy corn on behalf of 
the company ; to pay 40 beavers due from -Jough to Beekman and 
a Mr. Decker, besides an amende of 40 gl. 

The above is given as a specimen of judicial proceedings on 
the river — perhaps no better specimen could be found of judicial 
robbery. Beekman not only had a direct interest in the matter, 
but had expressed his apprehensions as to the result some time 
before the trial. As bad as was the character of the defendant, 
it is difficult to see how the Swedish commissaries could be indu- 
ced to join in such an unjust transaction. 

On the day of the trial, Andries Hudde as secretary, announ- 
ced to the Rev. Laers, the illegality of his marriage. 

The unfortunate priest feels, that by reason of the decision of 

1 Haz. Ann. 331. 

6 



82 HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. [1662. 

the court, he is a ruined man, and submits a petition to the 
Governor in which his deep humility is apparent. He alleges 
that he broke the door in search of his wife, and both in this 
proceeding and in his marriage by himself, he acted in ignorance. 
He had already paid nearly 200 gl. and craved the aid of the 
General to save him from further punishment, and also to " save 
his reputation and condition as a minister."^ 

A corn-mill was now in the course of erection at " Turtle 
Falls, about one and a half miles (Dutch) from Fortress Altona," 
on condition, however, " that the garrison should not pay for 
their grist." A mill of some kind was in existence at New Am- 
stel called a Rosmoleyi (Ross mill,) to which the people of Altona 
resorted, or when they could not be served, were compelled to go 
to the old ^'■Swedish milV at the distance of six miles (Dutch) 
from Altona. This old Swedish mill was the mill built by Gover- 
nor Printz on Cobb's creek. 

The West India Company having assented to a favorable modi- 
fication of the conditions under which the City of Amsterdam held 
its colony, and the city having agreed to furnish pecuniary aid to 
emigrants, a reasonable prospect was presented, that immigration 
in that direction would proceed with great rapidity. Among 
those who were allured by the proposed advantages, was a com- 
munity of Menonists, who proposed to plant themselves at Hore- 
kill. Their articles of association are remarkably singular. 
The associators were to be married men or single men twenty-four 
years old. Clergymen were excluded from the community, as 
were also, "all intractable people — such as those in communion 
with the Roman See ; Usurious Jews ; English stiff-necked Qua- 
kers ; Puritans ; fool-hardy believers in the Millennium ; and 
obstinate modern pretenders to revelation." Laws, subject to 
the approval of the authorities of the City of Amsterdam could 
be passed by the votes of two thirds of the members, but no 
magistrate was to be allowed any compensation for his services — 
"not even a stiver."^ 

Enticed by the favorable terms offered to emigrants by the 
City of Amsterdam, sixteen or eighteen families, chiefly Finns, 
had embraced them by removing within its jurisdiction. They 
were to be eighteen years free from tax and to have their own 
judges and religion, while at the same time they meant to retain 
the lands from which they emigrated.^ 

The location of JPrintzdorp has presented a difficulty to wri- 
ters on the early settlements on the Delaware. The following 
extract from a letter written by Beekman to the Director-general 

1 Haz. Ann. 332, &c. 

2 Broadhead's Hist. N. Y. 1698.— N. Y. Col. Doe ii. 175. 

3 Haz. Ann. 3b7; from Albany Rec. 



1662.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 83 

on the 14th of September, 1662, leaves no room for doubt on 
that subject. 

"I inquired, at the request of Hendrick Huygen, into the 
situation of a certain lot of land, situated at the south-west side 
of Upland-kill, and was informed by the Swedish commissaries, 
and other ancient inhabitants of the said nation, that aforesaid 
tract is called Printzs village, tvhich had already been in posses- 
sion, during sixteen gears, of the Swedish Grovemor John Printz, 
and his daughter, who owns it. I cannot hear that this tract 
has ever been in possession of one Hans Ammonsen or his heirs, 
or that any land was cultivated by him in that neighborhood, 
but tvell that it was said so of one Elias Sullengreen, after the 
arrival of Governor Rysingh, that his wife's father had a dona- 
tion in writing from Queen Christina, of a certain piece of 
land, situated between Mary's corner (Marytjens Hoeck) and 
Upland kill. I received this information this day at Fort 
Altona."^ 

The grant to John Amundson Besh, by Queen Christina in 
1653, appears to have the same position as Printz' s village. It 
will be remembered that Amundson did not accompany the ex- 
pedition of Rysingh as military commander, agreeably to his 
appointment, at the time the grant was made to him. This circum- 
stance may have led to its revocation. It will also be remembered 
that Governor Printz, in 1647, after the royal grant of Tinicum 
had been made to him, asked her Swedish Majesty to " confer on 
him certain lands and occupations."^ Doubtless these lands had 
been laid off and particularly designated in his application ; and 
as the time this application was made, accords well with the time 
that "the Swedish commissaries and other ancient inhabitants," 
remembered that the tract on the south side of Upland kill had 
been in possession of the Governor and his daughter, no doubt 
can remain as to the locality of Printzdorp? 

It is quite possible that Governor Printz may not have received 
a grant for this land before his return to Sweden. The claimant 
Sullengreen seems to have been the son-in-law of Amundson. 

A murder was committed by an Indian within four hundred 
rods of Fort Altona, for which the Minquas were suspected. This 
happened on the 17th of November, and on the 3rd of December, 
three Minquas chiefs with their suite presented themselves at the 
fort. The Swedish commissary, with Mr. Huygens and Jacob 
Swens being sent for, the chiefs charge the offence on a captive 
Seneca residing among their tribe. In their remarks, the chiefs 
aver that it cannot be proven that the Christians have ever been 
injured or offended by their nation ; " but on the contrary they 

1 Haz. Ann. 339.— Albany Rec. xvii. 238. 2 jjaz. Reg. iv. 315. 

3 This will be more fully confirmed hereafter. 



84 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1663. 

have shown them every mark of friendship, and were always 
willingly and cheerfully employed in reconciling differences be- 
tween them and other savages, &c." They also reminded Beek- 
man, that three years ago one of their nation had been murdered 
at New Amstel of which they took no notice. Presents were 
exchanged and thus the matter was ended. 

They, however, had determined to prosecute the war with the 
Senecas in the spring, having secured the services of eight hun- 
dred '•'■Swedish Miviquas," two hundred of whom had already 
arrived. They " solicited the Christians to provide them with 
the amunition of war, when they paid for it."^ 

It appears that towards the close of this year, " Miss Printz, 
(Mrs. Papegoya,) made a conveyance of the Island of Tinicum 
to a Mr. La Grange, and had received from him a bill of exchange 
as part of the purchase money, which bill was protested. Beek- 
man visited Tinicum for the purpose of arranging the matter, but 
after using every exertion failed. From this transaction much 
litigation ensued, which was not ended till after the government 
passed into the hands of Penn. The letter of Beekman, commu- 
nicating this matter to Stuyvesant, is dated at " Tinneconk, i\r. 
Ley.den,'" December 23rd, 1662. 

Harmonious action, between the officers of the City and those 
of the Company, was not established by the new arrangement 
entered into between the parties. It became apparent, that a 
joint occupancy of the river must ever be attended with difficulties, 
that would prevent the rapid settlement of the country, and 
would materially interfere with the prosperity of the Colonists. 
Under this impression, the Burgomasters of the City in the early 
part of 1663, made application to the company for authority to 
extend their jurisdiction, "from the sea upwards as far as the 
river stretches." After considerable negotiation, a cession was 
accordingly made to the city, embracing a margin of nine miles 
on the coast, and extending to the English Colony on the west 
side of the river, on conditions that made its Colony almost wholly 
independent of the Company. The cession was not however 
actually made till near the close of the year, until which time 
Beekman continued to perform the duties of his office. 

A trade had sprung up between the Colony of the City and 
the Marylanders, which under the new arrangement that excluded 
the Company's officials from the river, the city hoped to extend ; 
it having been offered by the English, in case they would trade 
with them, '■'■to make a little slit in the cZoor,"^ whereby they 
could be reached overland. In a proposal submitted by the com- 
missioners to the Burgomasters of the City, cargoes amounting to 

1 Haz. Ann. 341 ; Albany Rec. xvii. 

2 N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 201. 



1664.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTI. 85 

from thirty-five to thirty-six thousand guilders are estimated for 
this trade and that of the Indians. In the same document it is 
especially urged, that a contract be immediately made for fifty 
head of slaves, " for procuring which the West India Company 
had a ship ready to sail." These slaves were ordered in pur- 
suance of a report made by Director Alexander d'Hinoyosa, who 
regarded them as " particularly adapted to the preparation of the 
valleys which are found exceedingly fertile."^ 

Hendrick Huygens, the commissary, is about to remove from 
N. Leyden Avhich was on Tinicum. He probably fixed his resi- 
dence at Upland, as he reports to Beekman, "a horrid deed" 
that was committed at that place by a Finn named Jan Hen- 
drickson against " the honest Juriaen Kuys Sneart, whom he had 
cruelly beaten."^ 

The Swedes entertained a more kindly feeling towards the 
oflBcials of the City Colony, than towards those of the Company, 
which appears to have been reciprocated ; for no sooner is the 
authority of the City extended over the Swedish settlements, 
than we find Peter Kock, a Swede, appointed to the important 
trust of " collector of tolls on imports and exports from the Colony 
of the city," and Israel [Helm,] another Swede, to superintend 
the fur trade at the upper end of Passayunk. 

Mrs. Papegoya is now absent from the river, but the precise 
time she left, is not mentioned. Israel [Helm,] who appears to 
have accompanied this lady to Sweden, returned early in Decem- 
ber with D'Hinoyosa and Peter Alrichs, who had been on a visit 
to Fatherland. A formal transfer of the whole river was imme- 
diately made by Stuyvesant to D'Hinoyosa, who received it on 
behalf of the Burgomasters of the city of Amsterdam.^ The 
Burgomasters did not, however, accept of this enlargement of 
their American possessions, without apprehension that the whole 
might not soon be rescued from them ; but they did not discern 
the real source of danger. News of the fitting out of a secret 
expedition in Sweden,^ had reached Governor Stuyvesant, and 
could not have been unknown in Holland. A demand was also 
formally made by the resident Swedish minister at the Hague, 
for a restoration of New Sweden to the Swedish Company,'' which 
clearly shows the real object of the expedition. But a series of 
maritime disasters that befell the ships composing the expedition, 

1 N. Y Col. Doc. ii. 213-214. The valleys here mentioned are the rich alluvial flats 
along the Delaware which were then overflowed at high tide, and which now consti- 
tute the embanked marsh lands along the river and some of its tributaries. The Dutch 
being perfectly familiar with the art of reclaiming overflowed grounds in Fatherland, 
it was to them and not to the Swedes, that we are indebted for introduction of the 
plan of reclaiming these lands on the Delaware. 

* Haz. Ann. 345 ; Albany Rec. iv. 415. 

3 Haz. Ann. 355 ; Albany Rec. xxi. 445. * N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 230. 

5 lb. 240, &c. 



86' HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1664. 

and forced their return — disasters, in which Stuyvesant saw 
" the hand of God," relieved the Dutch " from all apprehension 
and dread, "^ and saved our land from again passing under the 
dominion of the Swedes. 

The Swedes and Finns had enjoyed more privileges of trade 
under the government of the Company, than the city now pro- 
posed to allow them. After having been absolved from their 
oath of allegiance to the Company, they unanimously refused to 
renew it to the city, unless their former trading privileges and 
others were restored. D'Hinoyosa had fixed upon Aponquin- 
imy as his future residence, at which point he intended to build a 
capital, in order to promote his trade with the English ; but his 
administration of the government as recently extended, was so 
brief, till the whole authority of the Dutch passed into the hands 
of the English, that nothing worthy of note occurred, except the 
issuing of a patent to certain Swedes for eight hundred acres of 
land in Passayunk. 

During the exclusive exercise of Dutch rule on the Delaware, 
the personal intercourse existing between the Dutch and Swedish 
inhabitants was no doubt friendly : but the government looked 
upon the Swedes with suspicion and distrust, and adopted tyran- 
nical and oppressive regulations in respect to them. Had all these 
regulations been rigidly enforced by the local authorities, it 
would probably have resulted in a general exodus of the Swedes 
and Finns to Maryland. 

Ecclesiastical affairs during this period present rather a 
gloomy aspect. Two of the three Swedish priests on the river 
at the time of the Dutch conquest, left with Rysingh, or shortly 
afterwards.^ The standing of the one who remained,^ and who 
doubtless had charge of the church at Tinicum, as well as of that 
at Christina, was not, during this period, well calculated to ele- 
vate the morals of his flock. We may sympathize with this man 
on account of the wrongs he suffered, but our sympathy will be 
tempered by the belief, that had he lived a life more in accordance 
with his holy functions, he would not have fallen into the hands 
of his persecutors. Such as he was, he was the only one in the 
country, and "served both the Swedes and the Dutch."* 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. iii. 236. ^ Campanius, 108. 

3 This personage appears under several different names. Campanius, as translated by 
Duponceau, calls him Lawrence Charles Lokeniua, p. 108. To his petition his name is 
signed, Laurentius Carels, while in a note to Campanius by the translator, he is called 
Lawrence Lock. The Dutch records refer to him as the Rev. Laers. His great infirm- 
ity appears to have been an over fondness for intoxicating drinks. See Doc. Hist. N. 
Y. iii. 105. It may, however, be inferred that he became reformed in his latter years ; 
for in 1675 he became the proprietor of the tract of land formerly occupied by Olle 
Stille at the mouth of Ridley creek, and we are informed by Campanius that " he died 
in the Lord" in 1688. (See Sec. State's oiEce, Albany, Book "' Delaivare Lands," p. 15, 
Campanius, 109.) 

* Acreliuf, 425. 



1664.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 87 

Towards the close of the Dutch dynasty, the Swedes made an 
effort to supersede the Rev. Laers by the appointment of Albe- 
lius Zetzcoven, or Selskoorn, but the opposition made by the 
Reverend incumbent was so strong that no permanent position 
appears to have been assigned to him. This gentleman preached 
at the Tinicum church on the last Monday of Pentecost, at the 
request of the Swedish Commissaries. They desired to engage 
him as a schoolmaster at the same salary given to the Rev. 
'Laers, but, the people of New Amstel, where it may be inferred 
he was employed in the same capacity, would not dismiss him. 
He never had charge of any congregation on the South river as 
a regularly ordained minister.^ 

While the city and the Company occupied the country jointly,' 
the seat of justice of the latter jurisdiction was at Altona. The 
Swedes did not resort voluntarily to the court held there, pre- 
ferring to settle their differences among themselves, and in one 
or two instances they wilfully disregarded its processes.^ 

Horses and cattle were sent over by the Company and by the 
city in great numbers. These were distributed among the set- 
tlers, to be returned at the end of four or five years Avith one 
half of the increase. The Swedes constituting almost exclusively 
the agricultural population of the river, a large proportion of 
these animals was distributed among them. 

The time had now arrived, when the dominion of our favored 
land was to be wrested from the Dutch, and with the exception 
of a short interval — forever. The crown of Great Britain having 
been restored to Charles II. he granted to his brother James, 
duke of York, the territory embracing the whole of New York 
and New Jersey, and by a subsequent grant, that which now 
comprises the State of Delaware. 

To secure the possession of his newly acquired territory, the 
Duke fitted out an expedition consisting of four men of war and 
four hundred and fifty men, which he placed under the command 
of Col. Richard Nicolls. With the commander, were united Sir 
Robert Carr, Sir George Cartwright and Samuel Maverick, Esq., 
to act as commissioners, to receive possession, settle boundaries, 
&c. The expedition reached the mouth of the Hudson in the 
latter end of August, and after considerable negotiation. New 
Amsterdam and its immediate dependencies, were surrendered 
to the English on the 8th of September, without firing a gun. 
The settlements on the Delaware, being now under a government 
wholly independent of the West India Company, they were not 
included in the capitulation of New Amsterdam. Sir Robert 
Carr was immediately dispatched with a sufficient force to effect 
their capture. Arriving there on the last day of September, he 

1 Acrelius, 425 ; Haz. Ana. 348-353. 2 Haz. Ann. 311. 



88 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1664. 

sailed past the forts, " the better to satisfie the Swede, who, not- 
withstanding the Dutches persuasion to y^ contrary were soone 
their frinds." After three days' parley, the Burghers and towns- 
men yielded to the demands of the English on terms favorable 
to themselves and the Swedes, but the governor, D'Hinoyosa 
and soldiery refused every proposition, although the fort was in 
a bad condition, and defended by only fifty men. " Where- 
upon," says Sir Robert in his official dispatch, " I landed my 
soldiers on Sonday morning following and commanded y^ shipps' 
to fall down before y® fort w^^n muskett shott, w*"" directions to 
fire two broadsides apeace uppon y" Fort, then my soldiers to 
fall on. Which done y® soldiers neaver stoping untill they 
stormed y" Fort, and sae consequently to plundering ; the sea- 
men, noe less given to that sporte, were quickly w*Hn, and have 
gotten good store of booty." The loss on the part of the Dutch 
was three killed and ten wounded ; on the part of the English — 
none.-^ 

The articles of agreement entered into between Sir Robert 
Carr, acting on behalf of his Majesty of Great Britian, and the 
Burgomasters, secured to the planters and Burghers, protection 
in their estates both real and personal ; the continuance of the 
present magistrates in their offices and jurisdiction ; the liberty 
of conscience in church discipline as formerly ; together with 
" the privilege of trading into any of his Majesties dominions as 
freely as any Englishman," after having taken the oath of 
allegiance.^ 

The general system of plunder that ensued upon the surrender 
of the fort, was disgraceful to the commander, and his excuse, 
that " in such a noise and confusion noe words of command could 
be heard for some tyme," affords better evidence of the enormity 
of the transaction, than of any sincere disposition on his part to 
have prevented it. No less than forty horses, sixty cows and 
oxen, one hundred sheep, and from sixty to seventy negroes, 
were included in the plunder.^ Sir Robert appropriated to his 
own use, the farm of D'Hinoyosa; his brother Captain John 
Carr, took possession of that of Sherifi" Van Sweringen, while 
Ensign Stockpossessedhimself of "Peter Alrich's land." But the 
possessions of the local officers, which were regarded as legiti- 
mate booty, were not sufficient to gratify the cupidity of all who 
wore epaulets in the expedition. To satisfy the claims of the 
two captains — Hyde and Morley — Sir Robert granted to them 
" the Manour of Grimstead, situated near the head of the said 
river Delaware in America."* 

The conduct of Sir Robert Carr, subsequently to the capture 

1 N. Y. Col. Doe. iii. 73. 2 n,. 71. 

3 lb. 346. ■* lb. 345-72. 



1667.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 89 

of the fort, did not meet with the approbation of Col. Nicolls. 
In his report to the Secretary of State, he speaks disparagingly 
of his selfish conduct in respect to the plunder, and particularly 
of his presumption in appropriating "the prize to himself," and 
of " disposing of the confiscations of the houses, farmes and stocks 
to whom he doth think fitt." The Col. soon visited the Delaware 
to attend to the interests of his sovereign. Captain Robert 
Needham was subsequently deputed to the command of the 
Delaware.^ 

With the change of masters, the name of New Amsterdam 
was changed to Neiv York, and that of New Amstel to New 
Castle. 

Even before the Duke of York had acquired the possession of 
his American territory, he conveyed all that portion of it which 
now constitutes the State of New Jersey, to Lord Berkley and 
Sir George Carteret. At the time of the English conquest of 
the Delaware, the settlements on the east side of the river were 
so few, that no notice is taken of them, in any account of the 
transaction, that has come under my notice. 

Col. Nicolls acted as Governor of both New York and the 
Delaware. The Swedes were benefited by the change in the 
government, as under the new order of things, nearly all restric- 
tions on their trade were removed. But independent of any pe- 
cuniary advantage, they must have felt a secret satisfaction in 
seeing their ancient enemies, the Dutch, humbled. 

Beavers still continued to be used as currency ; and in the pay- 
ment for imported goods, the standard value fixed on each 
beaver, by the Governor, was 8 guilders or 13s. 4d. The export 
duty on beavers, was 10| per cent; on tobacco, two cents per 
pound.^ In 1666, an order was issued by Col. Nicolls granting 
a temporary immunity from all duties, for the purpose of en- 
couraging trade. ^ 

In July of this year, an order was issued by the Court of 
Assizes of New York, which applied to the country on the Dela- 
ware, for a renewal of all the old patents that had been granted 
for land, and that those who had no patent should be supplied. 

Col. Nicolls performed the duties of Governor both of New 
York and its dependencies on the Delaware, for about three 
years. He was succeeded by Col. Francis Lovelace in May, 
1667. The administration of Nicolls was conducted with pru- 
dence and judgment ; his efforts being especially directed to the 
promotion of trade. There was no popular representation in the 
government. " In the governor and his subservient council, 
were vested the executive and the highest judicial powers ; with 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. 70. 

2 Sec. State's office, Albany. Book " General Entries," i. 112. 3 u,. 143. 



90 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1668. 

the Court of Assizes, composed of justices of his own appoint- 
ment, he exercised supreme legislative power, promulgated a 
code of laws and modified and repealed them at pleasure."^ 

The laws thus enacted and promulgated, called the " Duke's 
Laws," were collected out of the several laws then in force in 
the British American colonies, and if not an improvement on 
these laws, they are divested of the worst features of some of 
them.^ 

This year, a Swedish church was erected at Crane Hook, at 
which Mr. Lock officiated as well as at the church at Tinicum.^ 

On the 21st of April, 1668, the government at New York 
adopted "Resolutions and directions for the settlement of a gar- 
rison on the Delaware." Under this head, directions were given, 
that it was only "necessary to hold up the name and counte- 
nance of a garrison, with 20 men and one commissioned officer." 
But the more important matter of establishing courts of justice, 
was also contained in the "Resolutions and directions." To 
prevent "all abuses or oppositions in civil matters, so often as 
complaint is made, the commission officer Capt. Carre, shall call 
the scout w*^ Hans Block, Israel Helm, Peter Rambo, Peter 
Cock, Peter Alrich, or any two of them as counsellors, to advise, 
hear and determine, by the major vote, what is just, equitable 
and necessary, in the case or cases in question." 

It was besides directed, " that the same persons also, or any 
two or more of them, be called to advise and direct, what is best 
to be done in all cases of difficulty, which may arise from the 
Indians, and to give their counsel and orders for the arming of 
the several plantations and planters, who must obey and attend 
their summons, upon such occasions." 

" That the Fynes or Preminires and light offences be executed 
with moderation, though it is also necessary that all men be pun- 
ished in exemplary manner." 

The commissioned officer, Capt. Carr, when the votes were 
equal, was to have a casting vote. 

It was also ordained, " that the laws of the government estab- 
lished by his Royal highness, be showed and frequently commu- 
nicated to the said counsellors and all others, to the end that 
being therewith acquainted, the practyce of them may also, in 
convenient time be established w"'' conducteth to the publique 
welfare and common justice. ""* 

Three of the newly appointed counselors were Swedes, resi- 
ding up the river, and as no time or place is mentioned for hold- 

1 Bancroft's Hist. U. S. ii. 320. 

2 For the " Duke's Laws," see N. Y. Hist. CoL i. 307 to 428. 

3 Ferris, 145—147. 

■* Sec. State's office, Albany " Orders, Warrants and Letters," ii. 207, &c. 



1668.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 91 

ing the courts, and as the three Swedish gentlemen mentioned 
were all justices of the first Upland Court of which the record 
has been preserved, it may reasonally be concluded that the 
court thus established, occasionally exercised its functions at 
Upland. If so, it will mark the earliest period at which that 
place could have been a seat of justice. 

In the order for establishing a judicial tribunal on the Dela- 
ware, it was directed, " that no offensive war should be made 
against the Indians" before directions were received from the 
government for so doing. Recourse was also to be had to the 
government, by way of appeal, in all cases of difficulty. 

In consequence of the commission of two murders by the In- 
dians while in a state of intoxication, Peter Rambo proceeded to 
New York, bearing a request from the Indians "that there 
should be an absolute prohibition upon the whole river of selling 
strong liquors to the Indians." The whole matter was referred 
to Captain Carre and those associated with him in commission, 
with the promise that what they should (upon discourse with the 
Indians) conclude, should be confirmed.^ 

Before Mrs. Papegoya visited Sweden in 1662 or 1663, she 
had sold the island of Tinicum, as has been mentioned, to a Mr. 
De Lagrange, but the consideration in whole or in part was a 
protested bill of exchange. It will be seen hereafter that when 
she returned to the country, she prosecuted her claim to be re- 
instated in possession of the island with success, though in the 
end, her title to it was decided not to be good. 

Printzdorp, however, was confirmed to that lady under the 
name of Ufro Papegay, on the 18th of June, 1668, which renders 
it probable that she had then returned to reside on the river. 
The following is a description of the property : 

" A parcel of cleared land situate on the west side of the 
Delaware river between two creeks, the one called Upland, the 
other Le Mokey's creek, including all the land being between 
the said two creeks, as also the valley or meadow ground there- 
unto belonging, and containing by estimation, as it lies along the 
river side twelve hundred tread or single paces" * * as held and 
possessed by the said Ufro * * * "^ 

The situation of this land cannot be mistaken. It subsequently 
became the property of Robert Wade.^ During this and the 
two succeeding years, several tracts of land within the limits of 
Delaware county and vicinity, were confirmed to persons who 
held titles from the Dutch, including a few lots in Upland. 
Brief extracts from some of these ancient documents, will be 
found in the Appendix, note O. 

1 Sec. State's OfEce, Albany — " Orders, Warrants, Letters," ii. 200. 
^ Sec. State's Office, Albany — "'Abstract of Patents," ii. 54. 
3 Mrs. Papegoya resided during several years at Printzdrop. 



92 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1669. 

The order issued in 1666, for repatenting lands, was renewed 
by Governor Lovelace, and William Tom was appointed collector 
of quit-rents on the Delaware. Those who had neglected to 
take out patents, are not on that account to be exempt from the 
payment of these dues. 

The Swedes and Finns had conducted themselves with so much 
propriety, that they had very fully secured the confidence of the 
government. But this year an insurrection broke out, headed 
by one Marcus Jacobson, generally known as the "Long Finn," 
who gave out that he was " the son of Coningsmark," heretofore 
oae of the king of Sweden's generals. He had for a confederate, 
one Henry Coleman, also a Finn, and a man of property. Cole- 
man had " left his habitation, cattle and corn" to reside among 
the Indians, with whose language he was well versed, where also 
the Long Finn generally kept. No treasonable acts are charged 
against these confederates except " raising speeches, very sedi- 
tious and false, tending to the disturbance of his Majesty's 
peace and the laws of the government." 

On the 2nd of August, Governor Lovelace issued a proclama- 
tion^ for the arrest of the parties, with an order to confiscate the 
property of Coleman, in case he did not surrender himself in 
fifteen days. The principal in the insurrection was soon arrest- 
ed, and upon information of that fact being communicated to the 
govefnor and council, they expressed their great satisfaction on 
account "of the prudence and careful management" of the ofli- 
cers on the Delaware, " in circumventing and securing the prime 
mover of this commotion."^ 

Jeuffro Papegay, Armgart Printz, was somewhat implicated, 
" though what she had done was not of any dangerous conse- 
quence, yet it was a demonstration of her inclination and temper 
to advance a strange power, and a manifestation of her high in- 
gratitude for all those indulgences and favors she hath received 
from those in authority over her."^ 

The Governor also perceived from the papers sent to him that 
" the little domine^ hath played the trumpeter in this disorder." 
The quality of his punishment was referred to the discretion of 
Captain Carr. 

The instructions to Captain Carr were " to continue the Long 
Finn in custody and irons, until he can have his trial;" the ap- 
pearance of " those of the first magnitude concerned with him 
was to be secured by imprisonment or by taking security;" but 

1 See. State's Office, Albany — " Orders, Warrants," &e., ii. 266 ; Haz. Ann. 375. 

2 Sec. State's Office, Albany — " Council Book," iii. 13. 
a Haz. Ann. 377 ; Albany Rec. " Orders," <fec., ii. 271. 

* Mr. Hazard snposes the -'Little Domine" here mentioned to have been the Rev. 
Mr. Fabricius. This gentleman was not then on the Delaware. The reference must 
have been to the Rev. Mr. Lawrence Carolus, or Mr, Lock as he is frequently called, 
who probably was a Finn. 



1669.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 93 

" the poor deluded sort," were to be subjected to a method for 
keeping them in order which the Governor is pleased to say was 
prescribed by their own countrymen, and which is, " severity, 
and laying such taxes on them as may not give them liberty to 
entertain any other thoughts but how to discharge them."^ 

In the commission for the trial of the insurgents on the Dela- 
ware, the names of the judges are omitted in the record.^ The 
sentence was passed by the council at New York on the Long 
Finn, or that passed by the commission on the Delaware was 
confirmed. He was deemed worthy of death, but, " in regard 
that many others being concerned with him in the insurrection, 
might be involved in the same premunire," amongst them 
" divers simple and ignorant people," the said Long Finn was 
sentenced "to be publicly and severely whipped and stigmatized 
or branded in the face with the letter (R.) with an inscription 
written in great letters and put upon his breast, that he received 
that punishment for attempting rebellion." After undergoing 
this sentence the culprit was to be sent to " Barbadoes and some 
other of those remote plantations and sold." In compliance with 
the latter part of his sentence, he was put on board of Mr. 
Cossen's ship Fort Albany, bound for Barbadoes, in January, 
1669-70, where, no doubt, he was sold into slavery.^ What be- 
came of Coleman is not certainly known. He probably remained 
among the Indians for some years, when his oifence was over- 
looked by the government.* 

So few of the names of those implicated in the insurrection 
are given, that it is difficult to fix on the particular district of 
country that was its principal seat. The leader was a Finn ; 
the '■'■Little Domine" was a Finn, and as the Swedes and Finns 
did not understand each other's language well, it is probable that 
the hot bed of the conspiracy was in the district of country 
chiefly settled by Finns below Upland. This supposition is 
strengthened by the fact that Mrs. Papegoya was implicated ; 
for though not a Finn, she doubtless then resided on her estate 
of Printzdorp in the vicinity of the Finnish settlement; she 
not being in possession of Tinicum at this time.^ 

1 Mr. Bancroft gives to this order a general application. It evidently had reference 
only to the more ignorant and deluded of those who joined in the conspiracy. See 
Hist. U. S. ii. 321. 

2 Sec. State's Office, Albany—" Court of Assizes/' ii. 437. 

* Sec. State's Office, Albany — " Court of Assizes," ii. 464; " Council Book," iii. 14. 

* In 1676, by virtue of a warrant from Governor Andros, one hundred acres of land 
in the south part of Darby township was surveyed to Hendrick Coleman and Peter 
PuUen. Coleman was probably the same person. See " Delaware Lands," Sec. State's 
Office, Albany. Henry Coleman conveyed his share of the same land in 1696. See 
Recorder's Office, Chester Co. Book A. 

^ The object and expectations of the conspirators are not well understood. Secretary 
Matthias Nicolls, sent by Col. NicoUs " to make inquiry into the matter," says, " they 
pretended an expectation of some Swedish ships to come and reduce the place," N. Y. 
Col. Doc. iii. 186. 



94 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1671. 

It will be remembered that Mrs. Papegoya had sold the island 
of Tinicum to a Mr. De La Grange. The grantee soon after died, 
and his widow Margaret intermarried with Andrew Carr. This 
year Governor Lovelace issued a patent confirming the whole 
island to the said Andrew and his wife. See Appendix, note C. 

Previous to the insurrection of the Long Finn, there had been, 
as before stated, two murders committed on the river by the 
Indians. As yet the murderers had not been apprehended, but 
the Governor by his orders to Captain Carr, evinces a determina- 
tion not to let them go unpunished. 

On the 13th of April, a pass was granted " to the Magister 
Jacobus Fabritius, pastor of the Lutheran confession," to go to 
New Castle, or any place on the Delaware.^ This personage, 
who at this period, and for some years later, bore no very en- 
viable reputation, subsequently, it will be seen, became the first 
clergyman at Wiccaco, and by a course of good conduct gained 
the confidence and respect of his employers. 

Early in 1671, at the suggestion of Captain Carr, several 
orders were made by the Governor and council in respect to the 
Delaware. No persons were to be permitted to distill liquor 
without license ; the number of victuallers and tapsters to be 
ascertained — three only to be allowed in New Castle, and "some 
few up the river," who may be licensed; constables are to be 
appointed to keep the king's peace. As to the tenure of lands 
on the Delaware, it was to be held " in free and common socage 
as his Royal Highness, by his Majesty's patent, holds all his 
territories in America, that is to say according to the custom of the 
Manor of East Greenwich, only with this proviso, that they like- 
wise pay, the Quit rents reserved in their several patents, as 
acknowledgments to his Royal Highness." 

As to the mill, that Carr had represented to the council as 
being "up Delaware river at y^ Carcoons Hooke," and which 
" did heretofore appertain to y® publique, and now is endeavour- 
ed to be engrossed by some particular persons for their private 
uses," it was ordered "that care be taken for y^ letting out y* 
said Mill for y*" best advantage to some person who will under- 
take y*^ same, and that y^ profitt thereof be reserved for y^ pub- 
lique."^ This is the old Swedes mill on Cobb's creek. 

At a council held at New York on the 25th of September, at 
which Peter Alricks was present to give particular information 
in respect to the two murders committed by the Indians ; as to 
the number of Indians, &c. One proposition for having the mur- 
derers destroyed, came from an Indian sachem. It was " to 
cause a Kinticoy^ to be held, and in the midst of their mirth, 

1 See. State's Office, Albany — " Court of Assizes," ii. 502. 

2 lb. 713 to 720. 

3 Did our word " Cantico" originate with the Indians ? 



1671.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 95 

that then one should be hired to knock them in the head."^ Two 
days previous to this meeting, Governor Lovelace had notified 
the Governor of New Jersey, that the Indians accused of the 
murder were within his jurisdiction, at a place called Suscunk, 
four miles east of Matiniconk Island, where the murder was 
committed.^ 

The ofl&cers on the Delaware had become very apprehensive 
that an Indian war was about to break out, and had communi- 
cated their views to the Governor and council. In reply, orders 
were issued for placing the settlement in the best possible posi- 
tion for such a contingency. Orders that had already been 
given by the local authorities for the people to retire into towns 
for their better security, were approved. Every person " that 
could bear arms, from sixteen to sixty years of age, was to be 
always provided with a convenient proportion of powder and 
bullets ;" no powder or ammunition was to be sold to the In- 
dians ; no corn or provisions to be transported out of the river, 
and the Susquehanna Indians or others were to be induced, by 
appropriate rewards, "to join against the murderers and such as 
should harbour them."^ 

The Governor of New Jersey, after receiving notice, was in a 
very short time, " prepared with a handsome party ready to have 
stepped into the work to bring the murderers to condign punish- 
ment." But the backwardness of the people of the Delaware, 
"put a stop to the forwardness of those of New Jersey." This 
was in the month of November; and although, one month earlier, 
Carr had been instructed by the Governor, that the season of the 
year was unfit for the commencement of an Indian war, his excel- 
lency made the fact of the New Jersey preparations the occa- 
sion to administer to that officer a severe rebuke for his tardi- 
ness and neglect of duty. 

But the masterly inactivity of Commander Carr, proved to be 
the wisest policy., and still preserved the country of the Delaware 
in its peculiar exemption from hostilities between the Indians 
and whites. In eleven days after Alrick's return from New 
York, a conference was held at Peter Bambo's house with the 
Indian sachems, which resulted in a promise by them to bring 
in the murderers within six days, dead or alive. One of the 
criminals made his escape, while the other — the more courageous 
of the two, allowed himself to be surprised. One of the two 
Indians in pursuit, being his friend, was unwilling to shoot him, 
but finding that the sachems had said he inust die, and that his 
brothers were of the same opinion, he was shot at his own request. 

1 Sec. State's OflBce, Albany — " Council Book," ii. 71. 

2 Sec. State's Office — " General Entries," iv. 35. This island is nearly opposite 
Burlington. 

3 Haz. Ann. 392. 



96 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1672. 

His body was removed to Wiccaco, and from thence to New 
Castle where it was hung in chains. William Tomm who com- 
municated this information to the Governor, became satisfied from 
the conduct of the sachems, that thej desired no war. The 
sachems promised to bring in the other Indian alive, and to the 
young men brought with them, they held up the fate of the 
murderer, as that which should be visited on every Indian who 
should act in like manner.^ 

A prohibition had been in force against vessels trading direct- 
ly to any point on the river above New Castle. This prohibition 
was removed early in 1672, in respect to such vessels as sailed 
from New York. Immediately thereafter, a pass was obtained 
by the wife of Laurs Hoist, "to go in the sloop of Krygier to 
Delaware, and thence up the river in some boat or canoe, to the 
Swedes plantations, with shoes and such other of her husband's 
trade, and return without hindrance."^ 

Early in this year, ample preparations were made by Governor 
Lovelace for a visit to the Delaware by the overland route, cross- 
ing that river at Matineconk Island near the present town of 
Burlington. A body guard and an advanced guard were ap- 
pointed, and instructions were sent to the river to make prepara- 
tions for the reception of his Excellency. If this visit was ac- 
complished, it was without result, or there has been an omission 
to record anything that transpired on the occasion, or if recorded, 
the record has been lost. 

English laws are now to be established more fully on the river. 
The office of Sellout is to be converted into that of sheriff, to 
which office Edmund Cantwell received the appointment, as well 
as to that of collector of quit rents on the Delaware, William 
Tom having resigned the latter office."^ 

In August of this year, the court of Upland, is authorized, with 
the assistance of one or two of the high court, to examine into 
a matter of difficulty between "Jan Cornells Mathys and Martin 
Martinson, [Morten Mortenson,] inhabitants of Amesland," and 
Israel Helme, about " a parcel of valley or meadow land, upon 
an island over against Galeoone Hook.''* 

The daughter of Governor Printz still resided on the river, but 
it will appear from the following order of the Governor made 
upon her petition, that she did not live in much affluence : 

"Whereas Jeuffru Armigart Printz, alias Pappegay, living in 
Delaware Hiver, did make a request unto me, that in regard she 
lived alone, and had so little assistance by servants, having only 
one man-servant, and likewise in harvest time, or other seasons 
of the year for husbandry, when she was constrained to hire 

1 Sec. State's GiBce, Albany — " General Entries," iv. 74 ; Haz. Ann. 393. 

2 Haz. Ann. 395. 

3 Sec. State's Office, Albany — " General Entries," iv. 184. * Ibid. 



1672.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 97 

other people to help her, for whose payment in part, and relief 
also, she was wont to distil some small quantities of liquors from 
corn, as by divers others is used in that river, that I would ex- 
cuse her man-servant from ordinary attendance at trainings in 
the company in which he is enlisted, and also give her license 
to distil in her own distilling kettle, some small quantities of 
liquors for her own use, and her servants and laborers upon occa- 
sions as before mentioned. I have thought good to grant the 
request of said Jeuffro Pappegay, both as to the excuse of her 
servant's being at trainings, (extraordinary ones, upon occasion 
of an enemy or invasion, excepted,) and likewise that she have 
license to make use of her distilling kettle as is desired, provided 
it be done with such moderation, that no just complaint do arise 
thereby, to continue one year."^ 

The limited means of Mrs. Papegoya is accounted for by the 
fact that she was engaged in a heavy law suit for the recovery 
back of the Island of Tinicum. There had been a trial in the 
" High Court on the Delaware," from which the case was taken 
by appeal to the Court of Assizes at New York, where it is thus 
set down : 

" Jeuffro Pappegay ] 

^ als. _ i N. Y. Oct. 2, 

Armigart Prince j 1672. 

vs. J 

Andrew Carr and Margaret Persill, [Priscilla] his wife, by John 
Carr their attorney." The case was tried on the 12th, 13th and 
14th days of October. Various documents were read on the 
trial, translations made and interpreters employed. The counsel 
for the defendant desired time "for other witnesses out of Hol- 
land," but it was thought fit "to delay the case no longer; so 
the court recommended it to the jury," who brought in the 
following verdict. 

" In y^ case depending between Armgart Prince, als. Mrs. 
Pappegay Ptff., and Mrs. La Grange, Deft., y* jury having 
seriously considered the Matf, do find for y^ Ptfi"., and award y' 
Deft, to pay y^ principall w'^^ costs of suite and all just damages."'' 

Execution was issued against Andrew Carr and his wife Per- 
sill in Delaware river and precincts for three hundred and fifty 
pounds with costs, for the use of Jeufi'ro Armgart Prince, " and 
for that it is thought the most considerable part of their pro- 
perty is upon the Island of Tinicum," the sherifi" was empowered 
" to put the said Jeuffro Prince in possession of the said Island 
and the stock thereof * * * *."^ 

The celebrated George Fox, the founder of the religious Society 

1 Haz. Ann. 399 ; N. Y. Sec. State's OflBce, Albany — "General Entries," iv. 190. 
* Sec. State's OfiSce, Albany — " Court of Assizes," ii. 293-304. 
3 Ibid, " General Entries," iv. 261. 
7 



98 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1672. 

of Friends, in returning from a religious visit to New England 
this year, had occasion to pass through the whole extent of the 
territory now included in our County, but it appeared he had 
no mission to the Swedish settlers here. According to his own 
account, after remaining all night in a house near the present 
site of Burlington, " which the Indians had forced the people to 
leave," and which he speaks of as the "head of Delaware Bay," 
he says: "The next day we swam our horses over a river about a 
mile, at twice, first to an Island called V^'pfer Dinidock (Tene- 
conk), and then to the main land, having hired Indians to help 
us over in their canoos. This day we could reach but about 
thirty miles, and came at night to a Swede s house, where we got 
a little straw and lay there that night. Next day, having hired 
another guide, we travelled about forty miles through the woods, 
and made us a fire at night, by which we lay, and dried our- 
selves; for we were often Avet in our travels in the day time. 
The next day we passed over a desperate river, which had in it 
many rocks and broad stones, very Hazardous to us and our 
horses. From thence we came to the Christian-river, where we 
swam our horses, and went over ourselves in canoos. From 
thence we came to a town called JVetv Castle, heretofore called 
Wew Amsterdam: And being very weary, and inquiring in the 
town where we might buy some corn for our horses, the Gover- 
nor came into the street and invited me to his house : and after- 
wards desired me to lodge there; telling me he had a bed for 
me, and I should be welcome."^ 

The Brandy wine is sufiiciently identified by its "rocks and 
broad stones;" but in reaching that "desperate river" from the 
point at which he crossed the Delaware, our worthy preacher has 
greatly over-estimated the distance. Benj. Ferris^ supposes the 
Swede's house, at which he lodged, was at the Blue Bell tavern, 
near the site of the Swede's mill. To have reached this point, 
he would have passed over fully one-half of the distance from 
Upper Dinidock to the BrandyWine. But the Swede's house 
was thirty miles from the former and forty from the latter; and 
as the mill, then a rarity in the country, is not mentioned, and 
the Swedish settlements of Upland and Marcus Hook are not 
noticed, it is probable our travellers crossed the country higher 
up. 

A war broke out between the English and Dutch in 1672, but 
scarcely any notice appears to have been taken of the matter 

1 Greorge Fox, his Journal, ii. 194. 

2 Original Settlements on the Delaware, 131. Our author has also fallen into the 
error of supposing that the Governor mentioned by George Fox as lodging him 
at New Castle, was Lord Lovelace. Lord Lovelace was not on the Delaware at that 
time. It is Capt. John Carr, sometimes called Governor, who is entitled to the credit 
of extending to the eminent Quaker, such marked civility. 



1673.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 99 

in this country, until a Dutch fleet under the command of Com- 
modores Cornelius Evertse and Jacob Benckes, appeared before 
the fort at New York, on' the 6th of August of the following 
year. After making a slight resistance, the foi't was surren- 
dered, and the whole country submitted again to the authority 
of the Dutch. This happened in the absence of Governor Love- 
lace, who was at New Haven. ^ 

The two Commodores immediately issued their proclamation 
appointing Anthony Colve, a Captain of Netherland infantry, 
to the office of Governor-General of New Netherland, embracing 
the full dimensions it possessed previous to its surrender to the 
English, which included the whole of New Jersey.^ There ap- 
pears to have been a ready submission to the Dutch authorities, 
deputies appearing before the Commanders, including Colve ; 
who constituted a kind of Military Council, and held their sit- 
tings at Fort William Hendrich, the name now given to the fort 
at New York. The deputies from the Delaware appeared before 
this tribunal, and gave in "their submission to their High Mighti- 
nesses the Lords States General of the United Netherlands, and 
his Serene Highness the Prince of Orange, on the 12tli of Sep- 
tember." In return, they obtained for their constituents, among 
other privileges, "free trade and commerce with Christians and 
Indians;" freedom of conscience; security in the possession of 
their houses and lands, and exemption from all rent charges and 
excise on wine, beer and distilled liquors consumed on the 
South river. This last privilege was granted in consideration of 
the expense the inhabitants would incur "in erecting the fort," 
and was to continue till 1676 — "Those of the English nation to 
enjoy the same privileges upon taking the oath of allegiance." 
At the same time, three Courts of Justice were established on 
the Delaware — one at New Amstel, one at the Hoern Kill and 
one at Upland. The jurisdiction of the Upland Court extended 
provisionally from the east and west banks of Kristina Kill up- 
wards unto the head of the river." 

The inhabitants were required, "by a plurality of votes," to 
nominate for each Court eight persons as magistrates. From 
these the Council at New York selected the Justices of the seve- 
ral Courts.^ 

Peter Alrichs was appointed by Governor Colve, Commander 
and Sellout, and Walter Wharton was re-appointed Surveyor of 
the South River district. Peter Alrichs took his oath of office 
and allegiance without reservation, but Wharton being an Eng- 
lishman, made it a condition in his fealty, that he was not to be 
forced to bear arms against his own nation. Alrichs was ap- 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. iii. 198, 199, &c. • - 2 ib. u. 609. 

3 N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 604-5. 



100 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1674. 

pointed to administer the oath of allegiance to the inhabitants 
of the South River, and also authorized to enlist ten or twelve 
soldiers "on government account," including two corporals.^ 

While freedom of conscience was granted to the inhabitants 
of the Delaware, the instructions to Alrichs directed that "the 
pure, true Christian Religion, according to the Synod of Dort, 
should be taught and maintained in every proper manner, with- 
out suffering anything to be attempted contrary thereunto by 
any other sectaries."^ 

Public property belonging to the crown of England, together 
with the debts due the government, was confiscated, but property 
belonging to officers of the late government was restored to 
them upon taking the oath of allegiance. On this condition, 
upon the petition of his wife Petronella, Capt. John Carr, late 
Commander on the Delaware, was reinstated in his possessions.^ 
The re-establishment of the Dutch authority in their former 
American possessions did not continue long. By virtue of the 
treaty of peace between England and the Netherlands, signed on 
the 9th of February, 1674, it became necessary to restore these 
possessions again to the English. Lest the title of the Duke of 
York should be impaired by the Dutch conquest, a new grant 
was made to him by his brother, whereupon the Duke, on the 
loth of July, constituted Major, afterwards Sir Edmund Andros, 
his Lieutenant and Governor. Upon the arrival of Governor 
Andros at New York, the government was surrendered to him 
agreeably to the terms of the treaty, the allegiance of the Dutch 
having become formally absolved by Governor Colve. On the 
9th of November, Andros issued his first proclamation, confirm- 
ing "all former grants, privileges or concessions," and "all 
estates legally possessed," under his Royal Highness, before the 
late Dutch government, and all legal judicial proceedings under 
that government. By this proclamation the Book of Laws, 
known as the "Duke's Laws," and also the former Courts, with 
the time and manner of holding them, were established, and 
"all magistrates and civil officers belonging thereunto, were to 
be chosen accordingly."* 

Edmund Cantwell and William Tom were commissioned by 
the Governor to take possession of the Fort at Newcastle, and 
of all military stores there, or on any other part of the river, on 
behalf of his Majesty of Great Britain. Under this commis- 
sion, in the Record at Albany is the following list of Justices: 

1 N. Y. Col. Doc. ii. 614-617. The pay of a corporal was but 48 stivers per week, 
and that of a private 35 stivers, Holland. The rations of each soldier per week, 61bs. 
beef or 3i of pork, 61bs. rye bread, ^Ib. butter, one-seventh of a half barrel of small 
beer, and 1 skepel of peas per month. 2 lb. 618. 

3 lb. 578, 579. A simple promise of q,]Jegiiinee was accepted from the Quakers, 
instead of an oath. 

< lb. iii. 227.— Documentary Hist. N. Y. hi. 79. 



1675.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 101 

" Names of y* Justices for Newcastle are : Mr. Hans Block, 
Mr. Jn" Moll, Mr. Fopp Outhout, Mr. Joseph Chew, Mr. Di- 
rick Alberts. For the River: Mr. Peter Cock, Mr. Peter 
Kambo, Mr. Israel Helm, Mr. Laers Andrieson, Mr. Woolle 
Swain. "^ 

These Justices had no formal commissions issued to them at 
this time, but simply an order from the Governor, directed to 
them under the title oi Commissaries, "to resume their places 
as Magistrates." Captain Edmund Cantwell was commissioned 
to administer to these Justices their official oath, he having been 
reinstated in his office of Sheriff or Schout. Capt. Cantwell, in 
conjunction with Johannes De Haas, was also appointed Collec- 
tor of Quit-rents on the Delaware, and of all other duties, whe- 
ther custom or excise.^ 

It has already been shown that a Court was established in 
1668, embracing three of the above mentioned Justices of Up- 
land Court; and two of these Justices, with the Commander, 
being sufficient to form a Court, it is rendered almost certain 
that Courts were then occasionally held at Upland. In 
1672, an order issued from the Governor "to authorize and em- 
power the Court at Upland, with the assistance of one or two of 
the High Court,'''' to examine into a matter of difficulty then 
pending. This order requiring the aid of Justices of the 
High Court in a special case, proves that the Swedish Justices 
alone at that time usually held the Court at Upland. It is quite 
probable that the Justices now reinstated are the same who con- 
stituted the Upland Court in 1672, and who doubtless exercised 
their functions during the short intervening period that the 
country was under the dominion of the Dutch. 

Capt. Cantwell, besides holding the office of Sheriff, appears 
to have been entrusted with the charge of affairs generally on 
the Delaware. In letters addressed by him to the Governor, 
on the 30th of November and 9th of December, he assures him 
of the general satisfaction of the people with the change of go- 
vernment, and also acquaints him with the prospect of the ar- 
rival of new settlers. The Governor gives notice of his inten- 
tion to visit the Delaware in the Spring, but in the meantime 
authorizes Cantwell to supply the new comers with a reasonable 
quantity of land, and to act as Surveyor of the whole river and 
bay.^ 

Governor Andros visited the Delaware in May of this year, 
and on the 13th and 14th of that month held a special Court at 
New Castle. At this Court it was ordered "that Highways 

1 Sec. State's Office, Albany. " Orders, Warrants, Passes," 1674 to 1679, p. 8. Haz 
Reg. iv. 56. 

2 Haz. Res. iv. 56. » Vo. i. 9.3. 



102 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1675. 

should be cleared from place to place, within the precincts of 
this government."**^ 

It was also ordered "that the church or place of meeting for 
divine worship in this towne, and the affaires thereunto belong- 
ing, be regulated by the Court here in as orderly and decent 
manner as may bee ; that the place for meeting att Crane Hoeck 
do continue as heretofore;" and "that the Church att Tinne- 
cum Island do serve for Upland and parts adjacent." 

"And whereas there is no Church or place of meeting higher 
up the river than the said Island, for the greater ease of the in- 
habitants there, Its ordered that the Magistrates of Upland do 
cause a church or place of meeting for that purpose to be built 
att Wickegkoo, the w"*" to bee for the inhabitants Passayunk & so 
upwards. The said Court being empowered to Raize a tax for 
its building and to agree upon a competent maintenance for 
their minister, of all of which they are to give an account to the 
next General Court, and they to the Governor, for his appro- 
bacon." 

This Court also established regulations in respect to various 
other matters on the river, among which was an entire prohibi- 
tion of the sale "of strong drinke or liquors to the Indians by 
retayle, or a less quantity than two gallons att a tyme, under 
the penalty of five pounds;" and a prohibition against distilling 
grain by any of the inhabitants, under a like a penalty. 

It was also ordered " that a ferry boate bee maintained and 
kept att the falls att the west side of this river; a horse and a 
man to pay for passage 2 Guilders, a man without a horse, 10 
Stivers."^ 

This is the earliest record of the proceedings of any Court on 
the Delaware. They are recorded incidentally among the pro- 
ceedings of the regular New Castle Court, for the early part 
of 1677 (N. S.) The functions of this Court, which was intend- 
ed to be held annually, were rather legislative than judicial. 
The order "that Highways should be cleared from place to 
place," seems to have been the first step taken for the establish- 
ment of roads, in the States of Delaware or Pennsylvania. 
It is our first road law. 

As early as 1672, the Court of Assizes, held at New York, 
ordained in respect to Parochial Churches, " that y® law be at- 
tended [to] ; but although persons bee of different judgments, 
yet all are to contribute to y® allowed minister."^ Strangely as 
this ordinance may contrast with the liberty of conscience grant- 
ed in the articles of capitulation, when the country was first 

1 The manner of making the roads was left to the respective inferior Courts. 

2 Records of New Castle ; Liber A. 49, 50. 

3 Sec. State's Office, N. Y. " Court of Assize," ii. 323. 



1675.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 103 

surrendered by the Dutch, it will sufficiently explain the order 
of the Special or Gfeneral Court at New Castle to the Upland 
Court, in relation to the maintenance of the minister for the 
new church at Wiccaco, and the action of this Court in respect 
to such matters that followed. 

A number of settlements had been made on the Jersey side of 
the Delaware, principally by the Swedes, but this year the ship 
Griffith, from London, arrived with a considerable number of 
emigrant passengers, several of whom were heads of families. 
They were landed at Salem, where they made a settlement. 
Edward, Robert and John Wade and Richard Noble arrived in 
this ship.^ 

On the 15th of May, the day after the adjournment of the 
Special Court at New Castle, at which the Governor presided, 
sundry matters of legislation, or rather regulation, that had 
been omitted by the Court, claimed the attention of his Excel- 
lency. These he embodied in a letter, which he directed " To 
the three several Co'''' of delowar River or Bay." The "want 
of corn mills, or not keeping them in due repair," he regarded 
as "a great prejudice to the inhabitants and traders," and recom- 
mended the Courts "to examine the same and cause, all such 
mills already made and the Bankes to be well fitted and kept in 
due repair;" others were to be built "in convenient and fitting 
places where none are;" and the Courts were to adopt regula- 
tions in respect to tolls or prizes for grinding, applicable alike 
to all millers or owners, whether of public or private mills. 

The Governor next gives important directions in respect to 
keeping Records. Patents for lands were t() be recorded in the 
books of the respective Courts, and patents were to be applied 
for by those who had taken up lands after the same had been 
surveyed.^ 

Robert Wade, who came in the Griffith with Fenwick, settled 
at Upland on the West side of the creek, on the same tract that 
had been known as Printzdorp, and which had been recently 
occupied by Mrs. Papegoya. This lady having been reinstated 
in the possession of Tinicum, disposed of her Upland estate 
either to Robert Wade or to some other person from whom he 
obtained his title to the property. Be this as it may, William 
Edmundson, an eminent minister of the Society of Friends, in 
travelling through the country in 1675, found Robert Wade set- 
tled at Upland, where, with a few Friends, he held a meeting 

1 Smith's Hist, of N. J. p. 79. See also Smith's Hist. Penna. in Reg. Penna. vi. 182, 
One moiety of New Jersey had been granted by Lord Berkley, one of the proprietors, 
to John Fenwick, in trust for Edwd. Billinge. It was under the charge of Fenwick, 
who was a Friend, that the colonists who came in the Griffith made their settlement at 
Salem. 

2 New Castle Records. Liber A. 62. 



104 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1676. 

at his house. After meeting they took boat and went to Salem, 
"where they met with John Fenwick and several families of 
Friends, (who, with those at Chester,) had come from England 
in that year with John Fenwick."^ From thence Robert Wade 
accompanied the travelling Friends to New Castle, where their 
horses had been sent, and from thence to Upland. Doubtless 
the House of Robert Wade, at which the meeting was held, was 
the famous Essex House, at which William Penn was entertained 
upon his first landing at Upland ; but whether it was erected 
by Wade, or had been built by the daughter of Governor Printz, 
when she occupied the premises, is uncertain. The fact that 
Robert Wade, within, at most, a few months after his arrival in 
the country, had house room sufficient for the accommodation of 
a Friends' meeting, and was prepared to make a journey to 
Maryland, would suggest that he had been fortunate enough 
to secure a dwelling already erected to his hand. 

It is not known what other members of the Society of Friends, 
of those who accompanied Fenwick, besides Robert Wade and 
his family, settled at Upland. They were the first members of 
that society who settled within the limits of our County or of the 
Commonwealth. 

The special execution granted in 1672 to Mrs. Papegoya, or 
" Jeufi"ru Armigart Printz," as she is called, and which put her 
in possession of Tinicum, failed to satisfy the judgment obtained 
against Andrew Carr and his wife. Sheriff Cantwell is ordered 
to proceed to a full execution of the judgment.^ 

About this time, William Penn, as trustee, became interested 
in the settlement of West Jersey; a circumstance that brought 
to his notice the not yet appropriated territory West of the De- 
laware, and gave rise to the idea of planting a colony there on 
principles that, in all future ages, will claim the admiration of 
the world for their liberality. 

Since the final establishment of British rule on the Delaware, 
Capt. Cantwell, in addition to his office of Sheriff and other ap- 
pointments, had acted as the superior military officer. On the 
23d of September, 1676, he was superseded in the latter office 
by the appointment of Captain John Collier as "Commander in 
Delaware River and Bay."^ On the same day Justices of the 
Peace were commissioned for the jurisdictions of New Castle 
and Upland, for one year or till "further order;" any three of 
whom would constitute a Court of Judicature. Ephraim Her- 
man was appointed Clarke of both Courts.* 

1 Smith's Hist. Penna. in Haz, Reg. vi. 182. 

2 Haz. Ann. 423. 

3 New Castle Rec. A. i. p. 2. Capt. Collier was also appointed " Sub-Collector of His 
Majesties Customes of New Castle in delawar." 

* Upland Court Rec. 37. 



1676.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 105 

The Justices commissioned for Upland District were, Peter 
Cock, Peter Rambo, Israeli Helm, Lace Andrieson, Oele Swen^ 
and Otto Ernest Cock, being the former Justices, with the addi- 
tion of the last named. They were all Swedes. 

From this period to the present time, the judicial proceedings 
in the district embracing the limits of Delaware County, have 
been preserved of record. Those extending down to the com- 
mencement of Penn's administration have lately been published 
by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania as part of the 7th 
volume of its Memoirs, under the title of "the Record of the 
Court at Upland," with a valuable Introduction and Notes by 
Edward Armstrong, Esq. 

The original manuscript Record is in the possession of Dr. J. 
Dickinson Logan, of Philadelphia. The records of previous ju- 
dicial transactions, not only at Upland, but elsewhere on the 
river, have not as yet been discovered. 

The following letter of instructions from the Governor very 
fully explains the character and jurisdiction of the Court: 

"Edmond Andros, Esqr: & Seigneur of Sausmarez, Lieut: 
& Govern'": Gen": under his Roy all Highnesse James Duke of 
Yorke and albany, etc : of all the Territories of America : 

Whereas, The Last leare att my beeing att Delowar uppon 
application of the Inhabitants Representing that my p^'decesso'" 
Govern'^ Lovelace had begun to make a Regulacon for the due ad- 
ministracon of Justice according to the lawes of this Government, 
pursuant to wich I: did appoint some majistrates and made 
some Rules for their proceeding the leare e'suing or till further 
order; In which haveing uppon mature deliberation, by the ad- 
vyce of my Councill made some alteracon, They are to Remaine 
and bee in force in forme following: 

1. That the bookes of Lawes^ Establisht by his Roy" High- 
nesse and practized in New Yorke, Long Island and dependences 
Bee Likewyse in force and practice in this River, and precincts, 
except the Constable's Co'''^ : County Rates and some other things ; 
Peculiar to Long Island, — and the militia as now ordered to Re- 
main in the King; But that a Constable be learly in each place 
chosen for the preservation of his May*'''' Peace w"" all other 
Powers as Directed by Lawe. 

2. That there bee three Courts held in the severall parts of 

1 In the Record at Albany this name is " Woolle Swaine." See Book " Warrants, 
Orders, Papers, 1674 to 1679," p. 213. 

2 This " Booke of Lawes," then generally known as the " Duke's Laws," was a col- 
lection out of the laws then in force in his Majesty's American Colonies, and first 
published in 1664, by a General Meeting atHemstead on Long Island, by virtue of a 
Commission from the Duke of York. These laws, with some additions made at a later 
date, will be found in the Collections of the N. Y. Hist. Society, i. p. 307-419. 



106 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1676. 

the River and Bay as formerly, to wit, one in New Castle, one 
above att iipplands, another below at whorekills. 

3. That the Courts consist of Justices of the Peace, whereof 
three to make a coram & to have the power of a Court of Ses- 
sions & decide all matters under twenty pounds w"'out appeall. 
In w'^'' Court the Eldest Justice to p'"side unlesse otherwise 
agreed amonghst themselves, above twenty pounds & for cryme, 
extending to Lyfe, Limb, or banishment to admitt of appeale to 
the Co'"' of Assizes. 

4. That all small matters under the valine of fyve pounds may 
bee determined by the Court without a Jury, unlesse desiered by 
the partees, as alsoe matters of Equity. 

5. That the Court for New Castle be held once a moneth, to 
begin the first Teusday in Each month, and the Co""' for uppland 
and the whoorekill quarterly, and to begin the second Tuesday of 
the month or oftener if occasion. 

6. That all necessary By-lawes or orders, not Repugnant to 
ye Lawes of the Governm*, made by the said Courts, bee of force 
and binding, for the space of one whole leare, in the severall places 
where made. They giving an account thereof to the Governo"" by 
the first opportunity : — and that no fines bee made or imposed but 
by order of Court. 

7. That the several Courts have power to Regulate the Court 
and officers' fees, not to Exceed the Rates in the Booke of Lawes, 
nor to bee under halfe the valine therein Exprest. 

8. That there bee a high Sherife for the Towne of New Castle, 
River, and Bay, and that the s** High Sherrife have power to 
make an undersherrife or marshal, being a fit p^'son, and for 
whome hee will bee Responsable, to bee approved by the Court. 
But the Sherrife, as in England, and according to the now prac- 
tice on Long Island, to act as a principall officer for the Execu- 
tion of the Lawes, but not as a Justice of Peace or magistrate. 

9. That there bee fitting Bookes provyded for the Records, 
In which all judiciall proceedings, to bee duly and fairly entred 
as also publicq orders from the Governo'', and the names of the 
magistrates and officers authorized, w*'' the tyme of their admis- 
sion. The s^ Records to be kept in English, to wich all p^'sons 
concerned may have free Recourse at due or sesonable tymes; 

10. That a fitt p'"son for Clarke (when vacant) ' be recom- 
mended by Each Court to the governo"" for his approbation, in 
whose hands the s*^ Records to bee kept; 

11. That all writs, warrants & proceedings att lawe shall be 
in his may*'"^ name. It haveing been practized in the Governm' 
ever since the first writing of the Lawe booke, and itt being his 
Roy" Highnesses special Pleasure and Order. 

12. That no Rates bee Imposed or Levys of mony made "w*''in 



1676.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 107 

the Towne of Newcastle, River, or Bay by any, under what deno- 
mination soever w%ut the approbation of the Govern"", unlesse 
upon Extraordinary occasion in Case of necessity, of Vf"^ the 
Governo'' to have p^'sent ace* sent him. That upon the Levy of 
any Rates there be a faire ace* kept both of the Receipts and 
disboursments, w"*" account to be Given in to the Co'"' tliere to bee 
past and then sent to the Governo" for his allowance, until wich 
not to bee a sufficient discharge. 

Whereas by this regulation there are no overzeers apointed nor 
Contstables Courts, but all matters to bee determined by the 
Justices ; I : doe therefore Recomend the Composure or Refer- 
ring to arbitracon of as many matters particularly under the 
valine of fjve pound as may properly be determined that way. 
Provided it may bee by the consent of Partees; That any p^'son 
desiering Land make application to the Court in whose bounds 
itt is, whoe are required to sitt once a month or oftner if there 
bee occasion to Give order therein &. certify to the Governo'' for 
any Land not taken upp and Improved fitt proportions, not ex- 
ceeding fifty acres p"" head unlesse uppon Extraordinary occasions 
where they see good Cause for itt, w*^*" Certificate to bee a suffi- 
cient authority or warr' for the surveigo" to surveig the same 
and with the Surveigors Returne to bee sent to New Yorke for the 
Governo""^ approbation ; That in the Certificates be specified how 
much upland and meaddow w**" due Reguard that Each may have 
a proportionable sheare, according to the place they are in Land- 
ward; Given under my hand and seale in New Yorke, the 25th 
day of Septemb'' in the 28th leare of his may*'^^ Reigne, a" Dom : 
1676."! (Signed) E. Andross. 

The recently appointed Justices, according to the Record, 
held their first Court at "Uppland in Delowar Riuer" on the 
14th of November, 1676. After they had been sworn into office, 
the first act of the Court was to order "that Mr. Tom, the 
former Clarke, should deliver unto the present Clarke, Eph: 
Herman, the Records and other publiq bookes and wrytings be- 
longing to this Court. "^ 

1 Upland Court Records, 39. 

2 This is not the only reference in the Upland Court Records to the records of a 
former and earlier Court. — By the Records of New Castle Court, corresponding with 
those of the Upland Court, it appears that several orders were made in respect to the 
Records of an earlier Court at that place. Being in a bad condition, the Court ordered 
them to be " sealed and sent to his Honr the Groverno"" for his order therein." It ap- 
pears from a letter addressed by the Governor to the Justices of New Castle Court on 
the 14th of August, 1677, that these old Records were so sent, but returned again on 
account of their " confusedness or ill order," to be copied into a book, and attested by 
William Tom, who was clerk at the time these Records were made. Mr. Tom died 
about this time, whereupon the Court of New Castle directed Ephraim Herman " to 
put the old Records of the Court, when William Tom was Clerk, into good order." 
Mr. Tom neglected to comply with the first order of the Upland Court in respect to 
the old Records, whereupon the Court made a second order in November of the next 



108 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1677. 

The first instance on record of the appointment of Guardians 
for minors was made in this Court, in the case of the children 
Hendrick Johnson, Dec*^, — "Jan Jansen and morten morten sen," 
were appointed to bee "ouerzeers and guardians." 

Mr. Justice Helm presented a petition to the Court "desiering 
to haue some recompence for haueing served the Riuer often and 
att sundry tymes as an interpreter w*^ the Indians &c. This 
application the Court determined to refer to Governor Andros, 
which ttiey did in a letter addressed to him on the same day, 
wherein they also intreat that his Honor " will be pleased to 
confirm the order made att the Last Gen^^ Court here about the 
voolves heads," and that he will prescribe a way & order how 
the charges of this Court, when they sitt, may bee found, con- 
ceidering that wee all Liue att a great distance from o"" Court 
place, and the amercem*^ (by Reason of the small number of ac- 
tions) amounting to Little ; and that yo"^ hon"" will bee pleased to 
Impower us, so that the old debts of the Court together w*'' 
the debts sence yo"" hon""^ government may also be sattisfyed by 
the same way w*^*" yo'" hono"" shall prescrybe."^ 

The Court was held at the house of Neeles Laerson, who also 
entertained the justices. The account made out by the Court 
of the public indebtedness to Laerson for "the Charges of 
Keepeing of Court and Justices dyet there," establishes the fact 
that the former Court, of which the Records have not been dis- 
covered, was held at the same place. Laerson probably kept a 
public house. His charge for entertaining the Court during its 
present sitting, which appears to have lasted but one day, was 
100 Gilders.2 

The next Court at Upland "was held on the 13th of March, 

year, to deliver these Records to the present Clerk, which, he being sent for, promised 
to do ; but dying shortly afterwards, it is not probable that these records were ever 
placed in the custody of the Court. See New Castle Court Rec. Book A. pp. 95-244; 
also Haz. Reg. iv. 73. 

1 Record of Upland Court, 46. 

2 The Gilder or Guilder, as used in commercial and other transactions on the Dela- 
ware about this period, has by some writers been estimated at about 40 cents of our 
money, the usual value of the Dutch coin of that name. This is a serious mistake, 
and must lead the reader to very incorrect conclusions in respect to the pecuniary con- 
dition of the early settlers on the river. The value of the Gilder during the Duke of 
York's government, was 6 pence, currency. This fact is established by the judgment 
of the Upland Court in the case of Thomas Kerby vs. Gilbert Wheeler, wherein " the 
Def is allotted and ordered to pay" for 70 days work, at 50 styvers per day, '' y® sume 
offower pounds, seven shillings and six pence." See Rec. Upland Court, 154. See 

also p. 164, where £5 is made equal to 200 Gilders Samuel Smith, in his History of 

New Jersey, published in 1721, says : " Eight white wampum, or four black, passed at 
this time, [1673] as a stiver ; twenty made what they called a Guilder, which was about 
sixpence present currency, (p. 76). Proud, in his History of Pennsylvania, i. p. 134, 
in a note, says : " Six beads [of wampum] were formerly valued at a stiver ; twenty 
stivers made what they called a Guilder; which was about six pence currency, or four 
pence sterling." In large transactions, what is called a Dutch guilder was valued at 
two shillings, ten being taken as equivalent to a pound. See the Record of the trial 
for the recovery of Tinicum Island. (Chester Rec. West Chester, 1683.) 



1677. J HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 109 

1677. Two cases of assault and battery were brought before 
this Court, but were postponed till the next. The people 
on the river having been apprehensive for some time of being 
attacked by the Indians, the Justices of Upland, at the close of 
the Court, held a meeting with Capt. John Collier, the Com- 
mander, " uppon the news of the Simeco Indians coming down 
to fetch the Sasquehanno, that were amongst these River In- 
dians." At this meeting " itt was concluded uppon the motions 
of Rinowehan, the Indian Sachomore, for the most quiet of the 
River, viz.: That Capt" Collier & Justice Israel Helm goe upp 
to Sachamexin, (where att p'^sent a great number of Simico & 
other Indians are,) and that they Endeauor to p^'swade the 
Simecus, the Sasquehannos k these Riuer Indians to send 
Each a Sachomore or deputy to his hono'^ the Governo'' att New 
Yorke, and that Justice Israel helm goe w*^ them ; for to heare 
& Receiue his s*^ hono''^ Resolutions & answer to their demands." 

The conference with the Indians was accordingly held at Sa- 
chamexin (Shackamaxon) from the 14th to the 18th of the same 
month, at a cost of 250 guilders to Upland District, "for the 
expenses of the Commander, Justices and Indians." It does 
not appear that New Castle shared any of this expense, though 
equally benefited with Upland. The Justices of New Castle 
inform the Governor that the Indians had passed by them, and 
had gone up the river. This may account for the whole expense 
of the Shackamaxon meeting being visited on Upland. 

Labor at this time was seldom obtained, as now, for wages. 
Even mechanics sold themselves, or were sold for. a specified 
time ; their masters being responsible for their support. The 
change in the ownership of persons thus owing services, required 
the approbation of the Justices, as will be seen by the following 
extract from the Record of the Upland Court : — 

" M"" John Test brought into Court a certaine man servant 
named William Still, being a Taylor by traede, whome hee the 
s"^ Test did acknowledge to haue sold unto Capt" Edmund Cant- 
well, for the space and tearme of foure yeares, beginning from 
the first of April] Last past; The s'^ William Still declared 
in Court to bee willing to serve the said Capt" Cantwell the 
aboves** tearme of foure yeares." 

The following record of a case of assault and battery is given 
as a fair specimen of the manner in which business was trans- 
acted in our earliest Courts of Justice : — 

" Justice Israel Helm, PP. 

" Oele Oelsen (als) Coekoe, Def. 

" The P" Complaines that at the Planf of Juns Justesse, in 
his house, hee the pP was first w*'' Evill words abused by the 



110 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1G77. 

deft, and afterwards by him beaten, and his shirt all torne 
In pieces by the s"* deft, and therefore desires y' the Court will 
inflict punishment according to the meritt of the s*^ def, and 
that hee is one of the members of the Court, hee may bee so 
maintained." 

" The def* sayeth that the p? hath struck, etc." 

" The High Sheriffe, Capt" Edm. Cantwell desires that the 
Court will take the case in consideration, and not sufl'er a Jus- 
tice of Peace shall be so abused ! 

" The Court haveing Examined into ye whole businesse, and 
heard the debates of both partees, together w* the Testimony of 
Lace Coleman, Doe Condemne the said oele oelsen in a fyne of 
two hundred and Ten gilders ; sixty thereof for the Poors 
or Church, and the remainder 150 gilders to the Sheriff"e, and 
doe further order y' the s'^ oele oelsen doe humbly ask forgive- • 
ness of Justice Israeli Helm and the Co'"'' for his s*^ offence." 

" The Co''' & High Sherife Conciedering that the s*^ oele was a 
poore man w*"" a great charge of Children ; uppon his humble 
submission did Remit & forgive him the one hundred and fifty 
gilders fyne."^ 

Albert Hendricx, having served out "his leare" as constable, 
was dismissed by the Court at his own request, and William 
orian appointed "Constable for the jurisdiction of this court" 
in his place. Hendrix (Hendrixon) is the first person known to 
have held the office in Pennsylvania. 

Jurian Hartswelder, (Hartsfelder,) the Deputy Sheriff, being 
about to remove further up the river, resigned his office. He 
was succeeded by Micael Izzard.^ 

At the June Court of this year, an order was adopted in 
respect to the admission of Attorneys to plead in the Court,^ but 
.before the close of the year, it became the duty of the Court to 
publish a resolution of the Governor and Council, by which it 
was " ordered that pleading attorneys bee no Longer allowed to 
practize in ye governm' but for ye: depending causes.""^ 

The last adjustment of the dividing line between Upland and 
New Castle of which there is any record, seemed to fix the divi- 
sion between the two districts about the Christina ; but a man- 
date issued from the New Castle Court on 18th of September of 
this year, of which the following is an extract, would indicate 
that a different arrangement had been made : — 

1 Rec. Upland Court, 53. 2 n,. 57. 

3 In the New Castle Court, an Attorney, on his admission, was sworn "not to exact 
unallowed fees, not to take fees from botli plaintiff and defendant, and that he will not 
take any apparent unjust cause, but behave as all Attorneys ought to do." Records, 
p. 96. 

* Rec. Upland Court, p. 58 and 82. 



1677.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. Ill 

" To Mr. Charles Ramsey, Constable In Christeena : 

You are requested in his May*' name to take a true and exact 
list of all the Tydable p^'sons from 16 to 60 years of adge w'^n 
the bounds, vf"^ is all y north syde of Cresteena Creeke up as 
far as y" bogh' Creeke, above ole fransens house, & y'^ names of 
ys s*^ Tydables to bring * * * *."^ 

At a meeting of Mr. John Moll, President of New Castle 
Court, with the Justices of Upland Court, held at Upland on the 
12th of November of the following year, the above division was 
confirmed and extended : the County of Upland was " to begin 
from the north syde of Oele fransens Creeke Called Steen Kill, 
Lying in the boght above ye verdrietige hoeck, and from the 
, said Creek ouer to ye single tree point on the East syde of this 
River. "^ In other directions, Upland county extended as far as 
settlements had been made ; and although the authority of the 
Duke of York to govern New Jersey had been resisted by Fen- 
wick and others, it had been maintained on the ground that the 
sovereignty of the country did not pass to Cartaret and Berkley, 
the purchasers of the soil. Fenwick, for attempting to exercise 
authority independently of Governor Andros, had even been 
forcibly arrested in his own house, and sent to New York, where 
he was for some time imprisoned. This will account for the 
jurisdiction of the courts, on the west side of the river, bemg ex- 
tended into New Jersey, 

In the accounts of the country during the earlier periods of its 
settlement, that have come under the notice of the author, not 
much is said in respect to the depredations of wolves. The num- 
bers of these animals had probably greatly increased in the neigh- 
borhood of the settlements, both on account of the increased means 
to obtain food that civilization had furnished, and the diminished 
numbers of the Indians, who had heretofore destroyed them for 
their skins. The depredations of these animals had now become 
so alarming, that it became necessary to secure their destruction 
by means of a liberal bounty. At the solicitation of the Justices 
of the New Castle Court, authority was obtained to pay 40 gil- 
ders for each wolf scalp brought in.^ This, it will be seen, be- 
came a heavy item of expenditure. 

It had been supposed that a tax could only be levied by the 
authority of a " General Court," but the Governor, upon appli- 
cation being made to him for the holding of such a Court in 
order to authorize a levy, decided that every Court had the 
power " to make fitting rates for the highways, poor and other 
necessaries as is practiced in England." The Governor had au- 

1 New Caetle Reo. Book, A, 153. 2 Rge. Upland Court, 119. 

^ New Castle Rec. Lib. A ; also, Haz. Ann. 430. 



112 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1677. 

thorized a levy of Id. per pound on every man's estate, towards 
paying public expenses, but the Justices of New Castle obtained 
authority from his Excellency to substitute a poll tax, represent- 
ing the inconsiderable value of estates, the difficulty of deter- 
mining that value, and the distance of the people, as their excuse 
for asking the change.^ 

The unliquidated expenses of Upland county had by "this time 
so much accumulated as to present an alarming aspect of in- 
debtedness, when the means of liquidation are considered. This 
indebtedness embraced the following items : — 

" To neels Laerson for ye Courts Expensis to this day, 
Except 200 gilders by Capt" Cantwell paid him before, 
there being no other accommodation for ye court, . . G. 639 

To Lace Cock, for Expensis of ye Comand"^ and 
Simico Indians last spring; ye ace* being allo\»ed by ye 
Court, 250 

The woolves heads in this Co''*, not all brought in yet, 
but computed by ye Court, ...... 420 

To ye Clercq allotted by ye Court for his several Ex- 
traordinary services to ye Co"*, etc., .... 200 

To Justice Israeli helm for his severall services to ye 
Country as Interpreter about ye Indians, . . . 400 

To*Capt° Cantwell, w"** hee hath p** to neels Laerson 
for ye Courts accommodations, etc., .... 200 

Justice Otto Ernest for sundry Expensis on ye publicq 
acct. of w"** hee hath not yet brought In his acct. of 
perticulars, ......... 300 

Lace Cock for Expensis when his hon'' ye governo'' was 
there, 112 

Peter Rambo demands for Expensis when his bono'" the 
Governo" was there, 800 gild", 800 

Capt" Cantwell proffered in Court to pay him 400 gil- 
ders w*''' hee refused, soo that this is left to his bono" to 

judge of. 

G. 3321 

Besides fees due for ye collecting the s** Levy." 

At the November Court of this year, the Justices decided to 
levy a poll tax of 26 gilders upon each Tydable (taxable) person, 
which included every male inhabitant in the County between the 
ages of 16 and 60 years, except the Justices, who were by the 
Dukes laws exempt from the payment of taxes, except for the 
support of the Church.^ This levy was to be collected by the 
High SherijQf, before the 25th of the following March, and in- 
stead of money, he was authorized to receive "wheat at five, 

1 Haz. Reg. iv. 73. ^ n. Y. Hist. Col. i. .318. 



1677.] 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



113 



rye & barley at four, and Indian corn at three gilders per 
Scipple '^ tobacco and pork at eight stivers, and bacon at six- 
teen stivers per lb., or else wampum or skins at the courant 
price." 

The list of the Tydable persons presented to the Court on this 
occasion, in giving us at this distant day some idea of the num- 
ber and places of residence of these early settlers, forms a most 
important and highly interesting part of the record. No apo- 
logy will be needed for inserting the list at length. 

"A LIST OF THE TYDABLE P^SONS. 

Att Taokanink [Tacony.) 
oele neelson & 2 sons, . 
bans moens, 
Erick Poulson, . 
Christiaen Tomasse, . 
Casper fisck, 
Peter Jookum & serv', 
bans Jurian, 
michill fredericks, 
Justa Daniells & servant, 
Jonas Juriaensen, 
Hend: Jacobs upon y<= IsF, 
Erick Cock & servant, . 
moens Cock, 
Lace Dalbo, 
Rymer Peterssen, 
Oele Dalboo, 
Andries Boen, 
Swen Boen, 
Pelle Rambo, Junior, . 
Andries Kambo, . 
Richard Duckett, 
Mr. Jones y« hatter, . 
Joseph Peters, 
Jan Cock, . 
Peter Cock, Junior, 
harmen Ennis, . , 

Att Carkoens hoek. 
Andries homman & son, 
Pelle Erickson, 
Benck Saling, 
Andries Sailing, 
Laers Boen, 
bans Peters, 
Pell Puttke, 
harmen Jansen, 
hendrick bolman, 
Peter Nealson, 
Gunnar Rambo, 





Lace Cock & servant, . 


. 2 


3 


Michill nealson. 






Andris Swen and father, 






Oele Swensen his servant, . 






^wen Swensou & son, . 
John Stille, 










Swen Lom, .... 






Oele Stille, .... 






Andries Benckes, 






Jan Mattson, . . 






dunck Williams, 






Tho: Jacobs, 






Jan Claassen & 2 sons, 






Mathias Claassen, 






franck Walcker, . 






Will Thomasse, . 






Peter matson, 






Jan Baelsen, 






Jan Schorten, 






Jan Justa & 2 sons, . 


3 




Jonas Nealson & son, . 


2 




Peter andries & son . 


2 




Arian Andries at Peter Ramboos 


, 1 




Calkoens Hoek. 






mort mortens, Junior, 






Bertell Laersen, . . . . 






moens Staeckett, 




2 


hans Jurian, . . . . 






hendrick Tade, . . . . 






andries Bertleson, 






Jan Bertleson, . . . . 






Jan Corneliss" & son. 






mort. mortense, Senior, 






Lace mortense, . . . . 






neels matson, . . . . 






Anthony Matson, 






hendrick Jacobs, 






Jacob hendricx, . . . , 





1 Scipple (Schepel) is three pecks, English. Van der Donck's Hist. N. Netherlands, 
in N. Y. Hist. Col. N. S. i. 158. 



114 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



[1677. 



Upland. 
Claes Schram, 
Robberd Waede, 
Jan hendrix, 
Rich: Bobbinghton, . 
James Sanderling & slaue, 
John Test & servant, . 
Julian Kien, 
Rich: noble, 
Neels Laerson & son, . 
henry bastings, . 
will: woodman & servant, 
John hayles, 
mich Yzard, 

Eastern Shoitre. 

oele Dircks, 

will Bromfield, . 

Juns Justafs, 

Lace Colman, 

bans hofman an his 2 sons, 

Peter freeman, . 

moens Junsen, 

Poull Corvorne, . 



1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
1 



marr: Kill. 
Jan Jansen, 
Will: Orian, 
Daniell Linsey, . 
morten Knoetsen, 
Knoet mortensen, 
albert hendricx, 
Oele Coeckoe, 
Carell Jansen, 
Oele Raessen, 
Thorn: Denny, 
John Browne, 
Rich: fredenicx, 
bans Oelsen, 
Tho: harwood, 
Jurian hertsvelder, 
Andries Inckhoore, 
Rodger Pedrick, . 
Cristaen Claassen, 
Jacob Clocker, . 



136 Tydables in 
diction." 



136 

Upland Juris- 



The extreme slowness with which the population on the river 
increased, is a very remarkable circumstance. An approxima- 
tion to the whole number of inhabitants in the Upland District 
may be arrived at from the data furnished by this list of 
taxables. The male population between the ages of 16 and 60 
years, by including the Justices of the Court, a few soldiers 
and paupers, would probably reach 150. By making the number 
of females between those ages equal to the males, the whole 
number of inhabitants between 16 and 60 years of age would be 
300. An estimate made by a comparison with census returns, 
would make the balance of the population about the same, and 
the whole population of Upland County 600. Only about two- 
fifths, or 240 of whom resided within the district now forming 
the County of Delaware.^ 

The Justices becoming tired of holding Court in a public house, 
" Capt" Hans Jergen is ordered & desiered by the Court to 
warne his men belonging to his Company, and w*'' them to fitt 
up and finish ye house of defence att upland fitt for the Court to 
sitt in, against ye next Court." The site of this first Court- 
house, is designated on the map of "the Early Settlements."^ 

1 About this time a list of Tydables was made out in New Castle County, numbering 
307, which, on the plan adopted for estimating the whole number of inhabitants, 
would make the population of New Castle County 1248. Forty-three of the New 
Castle tydables resided on the "Eastern Shore." The tax was only 12 gilders 10 
stivers on each tydable ; the greatest part of the amount raised being to liquidate a 
debt of 2,200 gilders incurred for 65 wolves' heads. 

^ See Rec. Upland Court, 74, also (note) p. 202, where the location of this " House 
of defence" is fi.xed "on the east side of, and at an angle to the present Front street, 



1677.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 115 

In 1669 a block -house had been erected at Wicaco for defence 
against attacks by the Indians. This year it was occupied as a 
church, the Rev. Jacobus Fabritius, the installed minister, 
preaching his first sermon there in Dutch, on Trinity Sunday.^ 
It is very certain that the Upland Court had not as yet com- 
plied with the order of the general Court held at New Castle in 
1675, in causing " a church or place of meeting to be built at 
Wickegkoo ;" as no expenditure is included for this purpose in 
the estimate for which the general levy was made. The block- 
house was probably fixed up as a place of worship by private 
subscription. 

The Records of New Castle show that Commander Collier sat 
there as a Judge of the Court. The Governor being advised of 
his conduct in this respect, ordered him to forbear, and imme- 
diately commissioned Captain Christopher Billop as his suc- 
cessor. Walter Wharton was at the same time commissioned as 
" Surveyor in Delaware Bay and River," and Ephraim Herman 
*'to bee receiver of Quit Rents in Delaware river in the juris- 
diction of New Castle and Upland Courts."^ 

Since the arrival of Fenwick, owing to difficulties about the 
ownership of West Jersey, there had been no arrival of settlers 
for that province, until this year, when three vessels arrived — 
the Kent^ the Willing-mind, and the fly boat Martha.^ These 
were all well freighted with members of the Society of Friends, 
the greatest number of whom settled at and near Burlington, — 
some settled at Salem, and a few found their way to the western 
side of the river. Among the latter were William Clayton, 
Morgan Drewett, William Woodmancy, and William Oxley, and 
probably Henry Hastings and other Englishmen, whom we first 
find settled in the vicinity of Upland about this time. 

Directions are transmitted to the Upland Court by the gover- 
nor, to purchase from the Indians, two miles in extent along the 
river, from the lands previously purchased to the Falls. He also 
requires, by authority of the Duke, of all persons who " have 
or Clay me any land in Delawor River or Bay," that they make 

* "■•■■ * * * the eastern line of which ran through the centre of the building, from its 
S. E. to its N. W. corner. If it was rectangular in shape, its size was 14 by 15 feet, 
«- * -;■:■ s ■;!:■ -s- s- the house of Mrs. Sarah P. Coombe occupies about 11 feet of the South 
end of the House of defence." 

1 Clay's Ann. 34. Fabritius was a man of such a turbulent disposition, that in 
earlier life he was wholly unfitted for the performance of his duties as a clergyman. 
Only two years previous to his call to Wicaco, he had acted the part of a ringleader 
in " tumultuous disturbances" at New Castle, and, being brought by a special warrant 
before the Governor, it was ordered that " in respect to his being guilty, and his former 
irregular life, [he] be suspended from exercising his functions as a minister, or preach- 
ing any more within this government, either in public or private." Tempered by age 
and misfortune, he appears to have conducted himself with propriety during the re- 
mainder of his life, the last nine years of which he was blind. Haz. An. 419, 420 ; 
Clay's Ann. 35. 

2 Haz. Reg. iv. 73. 3 Smith's Hist. N. J. 99-103. 



116 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1678. 

a return thereof to the Clerk of the proper Court, to be hj the 
Court returned to him. The Governor also notifies the Court of 
his intention to visit England, and to return again in the spring.^ 

The great troubles and inconveniences to which the settlers 
of a new country are subjected, are but little understood by per- 
sons who have always resided in old and thickly settled districts. 
The great annoyance suffered by the settlers on the Delaware at 
this period, merely from depredations committed by wolves, will 
be understood from the action of the New Castle Court, with a 
view to their destruction. 

" The court takeing into consideration the dayly and contin- 
uall spoyle & damadge w"'' y** woolves commit uppon the Stockes 
of the Inhabitants and that the said woolves (notwithstanding 
the former order of the laest high court allowing 40 Guilders for 
each woolfe head), are no wayes more destroyed then before," 
make an order for setting, 52 " Wolfe pitts or trap houses," and 
direct who shall set them, &c.^ 

A provision is contained in the ''Duke's Laws" for the sup- 
port of "distracted persons,"^ but no direction is given in 
respect to the manner of securing them. As to their restoration, 
it was a subject that claimed but little attention in these early 
times. The action of the Upland Court, on a case brought 
before it, though certainly curious, should not be so much a 
matter of astonishment. 

"Jan Cornelissen of Amesland complayning to ye Court that 
his son Erick is bereft of his natural! sences & is turned quyt 
madd and y' : hee being a poore man is not able to maintaine 

him ; ordered : that three or 4 p^sons bee hired to build a 

■ Little Blockhouse at amesland for to put in the s*^ madman, and 
att the next Court, order will bee taken y* : a small Levy bee 
Laid to pay for the building of y" house and the maintayning of 
y® s*^ mad man according to Lawes of y® government."* 

This block-house may be regarded as the first lunatic asylum 
in Pennsylvania. The necessity for such a building, and the 
order for its erection, bespeak at once the great deprivations to 
which our early settlers were subjected, and the inadequacy of 
the means at hand for their relief. 

An abstract of all grants made prior to the establishment of 
Penn's government, for land located within the limits of Dela- 
ware county, that have come to the knowledge of the author, 
and also a few of similar grants of land outside of it, will be 
given in the Appendix, JVote C. 

Some conveyances have already been noticed in the narrative, 
and it will be necessary to advert to a few more, with a view of 

1 Rec. Uplnnd Court, 75-81. « New Castle Rec. Book, A. 222. 

3 N. Y. Hist. Col. i. 408. * Ree. Upland Court, 102. 



1678.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 117 

throwing as much light as possible on the earliest of the settle- 
ments within our prescribed limits. 

" Hans Juriansen Kien, of Taokanink (Tacony) This day ap- 
peared in Co''* and then & there did acknowledge a deed of 
conveigance bearing date the 9'"" day of this Instant month of 
March, for the makeing ouer unto his Brother Jonas Juriansen 
Kien, as followeth, viz': one Equall sheare and Lott of Land 
In quantity Equall w*'' y® sheares & Lotts of y*' other Inhabi- 
tants of Upland Towne or neighbourhood, w'** all and Singular 
the appurtenances. Lying & being in Upland aforesaid, The 
whole devident or tract of Land being heretofore surveiged 
& Laid out for y^ six Inhabitants of Upland Towne, in general 
Contaynes twelve hundred acres, whereof the part & sheare of 
him the said Hans Kien, being one of y^ said six Inhabitants, is 
two hundred acres as well cleared land as wood land, w'''' said 
200 was thereby sould and made ouer as above, together w'^ the 
housing and other appurtenances standing upon the said Hans 
Kien his Lott of ]iand Lying and being att upland Towne afore- 
said near the Creeke, between the houses & Lotts of James San- 
derling and Jurian Kien ; the said bans Kien did aknowledge 
also to haue Received satisfaction for the premises from him the 
said Jonas ; as by the said deed signed sealed & delivered by 
the s'' bans Kien, in the p^'sence of Johannsen De haes & John 
Addams, & bearing date as above, more att Large did apeare."^ 

The above grantee, Jonas Juriansen Kien, appeared in the 
same Court, and acknowledged a deed of conveyance of the same 
premises, in consideration of " a certayne Sume of money," to 
John Test, late of London, merchant, together with " a certayne 
new Blocq house,^ by him the s'^ Jonas built on the above men- 
tioned Lott, near ye water syde of y" Creeke aforesaid," &c. 

John Test, at this time a resident of Upland, appeared in the 
same Court and acknowledged a conveyance in fee of the same 
premises to Marmaduke Randell, of London, merchant. 

The land at Marcus Hook was also taken up by a company of 
six persons, as will appear by a patent granted therefor by Sir 
E. Andros, (an abstract from which is given in the Appendix, 
Note 0.,) as well as by the following conveyance, which was ac- 
knowledged in the next Upland Court : — 

" Jan Hendricksen, of Delowar River, husbandman, appeared 
in Court, and then and there did acknowledge a certayne deed 
or transport unto Rodger Peddrick, of all his the said Jan bend- 
ricksen's Right, Tytle and Interest of all the Land & appurten- 
ances Lying & being on the West syde of delowar River, called 

1 Rec. Upland Court, 103. 

2 This " neiD Blocq house'^ was higher up the Creek than the House of Defence, but 
its exact location is not known. 



118 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1678. 

& knowne by the name of marreties hoeck, the whole tract of 
marreties hoeck Land being granted and confirmed by Patient 
from the Right honcP^^ governo"^ andros, bearing date the 28''' of 
march^ 1676, unto the six possessors thereof, vizK- Charles Jan- 
sen, Oele Raessen, hans oelsen, oele neelsen, hans hofman and 
him the s'^ Jan hendrick, and contayning in the whole one thou- 
sand acres of Land ; w'^'' s* deed was signed, sealed and deli- 
vered by the s'^ Jan hendricks in the p'sence of Johannes De haes 
and Carrell Junsen, and beares date y*^ 18*"" day of June, a" 
1678."^ 

Both Upland and Marcus Hook were settled a long time be- 
fore these grants were respectively made to ^Hhe six inhabitants" 
of each place. The names of the grantees of the Marcus Hook 
purchase are given; those of Upland, besides Hans Juriansen 
Kien, w^ere, probably, James Sandeland, Israel Helm, Rev. 
Laurentius Carolus Lock, (Lawrence Lock) Villus Lacie, and 
Niels Laerson. There were certainly other residents in Upland 
at the time the grant for the 1200 acres was made. This new 
patenting of lands by persons who had resided in the country 
for a long time and held their titles from former governments, 
was one of the impositions practiced under the Duke's authority 
on that class of people. They were required by law "to bring 
in their former grants and take out now pattents for the same 
from the present Governoure, in behalf of his Royall Highness 
the Duke of Yorke." It may have been that the inhabitants of 
Upland and Marcus Hook, and other settlements, respectively 
united in an application for a large tract of land, with the view 
of saving expenses. 

A ship from Hull arrived at Burlington this year. Among 
the passengBrs was Thomas Revel, who settled for a time within 
our limits, and Avas the Clerk of the first Court of Chester 
County. 

On the third of April a meeting of the Justices was held, "at 
the house of Justice Peter Cock, in y" Schuylkill."^ The busi- 
ness of this meeting was about the same that is usually performed 
by County Auditors. Sheriff Cantwell appears to have been 
charged with both the collection and disbursement of the taxes. 
His allowance "for collecting & receiving y*^ publicq levy, etc." 
was 884 gilders, being very nearly one-fourth of the whole 
amount collected! 

Part of the Record of the June Court has been lost, but the 
minutes of the following Court show that it was held on the 18tli 
and 19th days of that month. This Court resolved to impose 

1 Rec. Upland Court, 103. 

* Peter Cook resided on one of the two Islands near the moutt of the Schuylkill. 
See Holmes' map, also Map of the Early Settlements. 



1678.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 119 

"a levy or small tackx of fyve Gilders p'' head on every Tyda- 
ble p'^son," the payment to be made at Tinicum, thus saving the 
great expense of collecting, that consumed so much of the for- 
mer levy. The Court not having imposed a penalty for non- 
payment of this "small tax," the Justices, upon assembling at 
their November Court, found that their former order had 
" Layne dorment," and finding themselves ^^necessiated,'' issued 
a new and very rigid order, "that every Tydable within the Ju- 
risdiction of this Court, who have payed their levy Laest yeare, 
doe w'^n the space of 14 days now next Ensuing come and pay 
Each of them 5 Gilders as formerly, and that they bring ye same 
unto Tinnecong Ysland in ye hands of M"" Otto Ernest Cock ; 
this order to bee published and fixed up att the churches of Wi- 
caco and Tinnecong to ye^end no p'^son may plead Ignorance."' 

In the year 1675, Gov. Andros, among other regulations then 
established, made an order remitting the quit rent for the first 
three years on all new lands to be taken up and seated within 
the precincts of the Delaware. Finding that persons were 
taking up lands and not seating them, he issued another order in 
October of this year, repealing and recalling his former order 
except in respect to lands that had actually been seated. Lands 
taken up and not seated and improved, and not duly returned, 
to be forfeited, and to be disposed of as vacant land ; that seated 
and improved and not returned, to be returned within six months; 
all arrears of quit rents since the Governor's arrival in 1674, 
to be paid within the same time, and in future the payment of 
quit rent was to commence with the taking up of the land. 

A Jury was empanneled in a case tried at this Court, being 
the first which appears on the Records of Upland Court, and 
was doubtless the first Jury that was empanneled within the 
limits of Pennsylvania. Though not necessary under the 
"Duke's Laws"^ to have more than six jurors, there were twelve 
empanneled on the jury in question, whose names here follow, 
viz: — "hansmoens, dunk williams, Xtopher Barnes, Edm: 
draufton, Peter Yocum, Isacq Sauoy, Jan hendricks, Jonas 
Kien, moens Cock, John Browne, Jan Boelsen, henry bastings."^ 
It required only a majority of the jurors to bring in a verdict; 
but there is nothing to show that they were not unanimous in the 
present case. The Court, however, determined to be judges both 
of the law and the facts, ^'suspended'' the verdict, and at the 
next Court tried the case themselves, and reversed the decision 
of the jury. 

The subject of mills claimed the particular attention of the 
Upland Court. A year prior to this time, the Court had grant- 
ed liberty to Jan Boelsen "to take up one hundred acres of Land 

1 Rec. Upland Court, 120. 2 n. Y. Hist. Col. i. 357. 

3 Rec. Upland Court, 107. 



120 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1678. 

above the mill in amesland Kill." The mill here alluded to is 
the old Swedes mill erected hj Gov. Printz, about the year 1644, 
and doubtless the most useful institution in the country. The 
inhabitants became alarmed at seeing land taken up "so near the 
mill of Carkoen creek,"^ lest "the s*^ mill would bee Left desti- 
tute of any land to gett timber for y^ use of s*^ mill, and upon 
their representation the Court ordered that 100 acres of land 
should be laid on the west syde of ye s*^ mill branch," for the use 
of the mill. The Court also ordered that the 100 acres granted 
to Jan Boelsen should be reserved for the mill, having first ob- 
tained his assent. The mill tract on Holmes' map is on the 
^ast side of the creek. It would therefore appear that 200 
acres were reserved for the use of the mill, unless the tract on 
Holme's map is incorrectly laid down. 

At the same Court, the erection of another mill was decided 
upon. "It being in consideracon that it was very necessary that 
a mill be built in the Schuylkill ; and there being no fitter place 
than the faall Called Capf bans moenses faalls ; The Co'* are of 
opinion that Either Capt" bans moenses ought to build a mill 
there, (as bee sayes that hee will,) or else suffer another to build 
for the common good of the parts."" 

Where there are mills, there must of necessity be roads, parti- 
cularly as settlements begin to be made in the interior of a 
country. Hence the Court "ordered that every p'^son should 
w*''in the space of twoo months, as far as his Land Reaches, 
make good and passable wayes from neighbour to neighbour, w'** 
bridges where it needs, To the End that neighbours on occasion 
may come together. Those neglecting, to forfeit 25 gilders."^ 

The interests of the Church also claimed some of the attention 
of the Court. "Complaint being made by the Church Wardens 
that Neeles Laerson has taken in (w**^ Lotts of Land by him 
bought of dom: Lasse Carolus here in Upland Towne) some of 
the Church or glebb Land; — ordered, that Neeles Laersen shall 

1 Ree. Upland Court, 88. Darby creek, which empties into the Delaware below Ti- 
nicum, was for many years taken as part of Cobb's creek, and went by the names of 
Jlill creek, Carkoen creek, and Amosland kill or creek. Darby creek, above the junc- 
tion of the two creeks, though much the larger stream, was regarded as a branch of 
Cobb's creek. 

^ Rec. Upland Court, 115, The stream here mentioned is the present Mill creek, and 
the site of " bans moens faalls," at Maylandville. A draft of this property, made by 
David Powell in 1684, and now on file in the Surveyor-General's office, represents a 
mill pond and mill very near the present site of Maylandville. It was then the pro- 
perty of William Clayton. 

3 Rec. Upland Court, 119. The Upland Court does not prescribe the manner of 
making these roads. A few months later, the Court of New Castle made the following 
order : "The highways to bee cleared as foUoweth, viz' — The way to bee made cleare of 
standing and lying trees, at least 10 foot broad, all stumps & Shrubs to bee close cutt 
^y y® ground, The trees mark' yearly on both sydes — sufficient bridges too be made 
and Kept ouer all marshy, swampy & difficult dirty places and whatever else shall bee 
thought more necessary about y« Highwayes afores*." See New Castle Court Rec. 
Book B. p. 146. 



1679.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 121 

haue his due of the 2 Lotts by him bought of s** dom: Carolus 
Equall yf^^ the other Lotts in Upland, but for what shall be 
found that s*^ Neeles Laersen has taken in more, he to Leaue out 
againe annexed to j" other Church Lotts."^ 

Capt. Billop, the present commander, seems to have been less 
faithful in the performance of his duties than his predecessor, 
Collier. He used the fort at New Castle as his own private pro- 
perty, converting it into a stable for his horses and a pen for his 
hogs. The room above the fort, which had been occupied as a 
Court-room, he had filled with hay and fodder ; and he employed 
the soldiers "about his own private affairs."^ Fortunately for 
the Upland Court, the Captain was stationed at a distance from 
their seat of justice ; and we do not learn that his subordinate 
oflScer, Capt. Hans Jergen, stationed at Upland, ever interfered 
with our Court in its full enjoyment, as a hall of Justice, of the 
recently finished "House of defence." 

These, with other complaints against Billop, were made to the 
Governor by the Justices of New Castle Court, who were also 
not disposed to spare their brother Justice, Walter Wharton, who 
likewise held the office of Surveyor-General. He had married 
himself, or was married contrary to law, and had not performed 
his duty as a Justice, in absenting himself "three following Court 
days."^ The former complaint was referred to the Governor, 
but for the neglect of his judicial duties he was fined £10 by the 
Court. Billop was recalled to New York by the Governor, but 
Wharton was removed by death, towards the close of this year. 

It is probable that the marsh lands appertaining to any parti- 
cular settlement along the river, were for a long time held and 
used as a common pasturage. That this was so in respect to 
Upland, would appear from a complaint being made by James 
Sanderling, "In behalfe of ye Rest of ye Inhabitants of Upland 
that Neels Laersen w*'' a fence stopps up the old and usual! way 
to the fly;^ and Neels Laersen being thereupon heard," the 
Court ordered the way to be left open as formerly. 

The Records of Upland Court also furnish some evidence that 
education of children was not wholly neglected. In the case of 
Edmund Draufton, plaintiff vs. Dunck Williams, deft. 

"The PI* demands of this Def* 200 Gilders for teaching this 
Defts children to Read one Yeare." 

" The Cor' haueing heard the debates of both parties as alsoe 
ye attestation of ye witnesses. Doe grant judgm* ag^' ye Def for 
200 gilders w*"" ye Costs." 

"Richard Duckett sworne in Court declares that hee was 

1 Rec. Upland Court, 121. 2 Haz. Ann. 451. 

8 New Castle Rec. Book A. 283. 

* Fly is the Swedish word sometimes used for marsh. 



122 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1679. 

p''sent at ye makeing of ye bargaine, and did heare that ye 
agreem' was that Edmund draufton should Teach Dunkes chil- 
dren to Read in ye bybell, & if hee could doe itt in a yeare or a 
halfe yeare or a quarf, then hee was to haue 200 gilders."^ 

Edmund Draufton is the earliest schoolmaster within the ju- 
risdiction of Upland Court of which any account has been pre- 
served. The location of his school in not certainly known.^ 

The "House of Defence," appears to have been built on 
the private property of Neels Laersen. At the first Court held 
this year he was ordered "to make or leaue a lane or street 
from Upland creeke to ye: house of defence or Country house," 
or in default to be fined at the discretion of the Court. The 
appellation "Country house," sufficiently indicates the uses to 
which the "House of Defence" was now appropriated. We have 
seen that its completion was urged in order that the Courts 
might be held there, and it is probable that it was used as a 
place for the transaction of public business generally. For what- 
ever other purpose the House of Defence may have been used, 
it was certainly the first Court house within our limits. 

The attention of the New Castle Court was frequently occu- 
pied with church disputes and diiferences. The following is the 
most remarkable instance of the interference of the Upland 
Court in ecclesiastical affairs: 

"It being Represented to y^ Court by the Church Wardens of 
Tinnagcong and Wicaco Churches that the fences about y" 
Church yards, and other Church buildings are mutch out of re- 
pair, and that some of the People, members of y® s** Churches are 
neglective to make the same Up etc: The Co"' haueing taken y® 
premises into Consideracon, doe find itt necessary to order, au- 
thorize & Impower, and doe by these p^'sents order, authorize & 
Impower the Respective members of y® s'* Churches, from tyme 
to tyme, and att all tymes when itt shall bee found necessary, to 
build, make good and keepe in Repair the s'' Church yard fences, 
as also the Church and other the appurtenances thereof, and if 
any of the s*^ members upon warning doe proove neglective In 
the doeing of their proportion to the same, They and each of them 
to forfeit fifty gilders for each such neglect, to bee Levyed out of 
their goods and Chattels Lands and Tenements."^ 

It has been alleged that Richard Buffington, the first male 
child born of English parents in Pennsylvania, was born at 

1 Reo. Upland Court, 131. 

2 As early as 1667 a patent was granted by Gov. Richard Nichols to Dunkin Wil- 
liams and nine others for a tract of land •' known by the name of Passayunk," contain- 
ing 100 acres, and located within the bounds of the old township of Passayunk, now 
in the city of Philadelphia, and as Dunk Williams is a tydable within the district that 
included this grant, it is most reasonable to conclude that this primitive school was lo- 
cated at Passayunk. See Patent Book A. i. 329, Sur.-Gen. office, Harrisburg. 

3 Rec. Upland Court, 152. 



1680.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 123 

Chester this year. This event was celebrated by his father, 
Richard Buffington, in the year 1739, on the anniversary of his 
85th birth-day, by assembling all his descendants, who numbered 
115, at his house in Chester; the first born, Richard, in the 60th 
year of his age, being among the number.^ 

On the 15th of December, Richard Noble was commissioned 
Surveyor of Upland in the place of Walter Wharton, deceased, 
who had held the office for both New Castle and Upland counties. 

On the 28th of May, 1680, Governor Andros issued a new 
commission to " M'' Otto Ernest Coch, M'' Israel Helm, Mr Henry 
Jones, Mr Lawsa Cock, and M"" George Brown to bee Justices of 
y Peace in y® Jurisdiction of Upland Court or County, in Delo- 
war River & dependencies." It will be perceived that the num- 
ber of Justices is reduced from six to five — that two Englishmen 
have been substituted in the place of two Swedes, and that of 
the old bench only two Justices have been retained. Though it 
is not known that any jealousy existed between the Swedes and 
English, the number of Englishmen who had settled on the West 
side of the river, made it necessary that they should be repre- 
sented on the bench. As nearly as can be ascertained, the places 
of residence of the Justices were as follows: — Israel Helm, at Up- 
land; Otto Ernest Coch, at Tinicum; Henry Jones, at or near 
Wicaco; Lawrence Cock, at Moyamensing, and George Brown, 
nearly opposite to Trenton. As the Duke of York, about this 
time, upon the judgment of Sir William Jones, yielded his rights 
to the government of West Jersey, the jurisdiction of the new 
Justices did not extend to the East side of the river. They held 
their first Court at Upland on the 8th of June, and among other 
things ordered a poll tax of one scipple of wheat, or 5 gilders to 
be levied, "for defraying y® charges of this Court's sitting," to 
be brought unto Justice Otto Ernest, att Tinnagcong Island**."^ 

The Justices also assumed the authority of removing the seat 
of justice from Upland. They say "that in regard that Upland 
creeke where ye Court hitherto has sate, is att y^ lower end of 
y^ County, The Court therefore for y^ most Ease of y" people, 
have thought fitt for y^ future to sitt and meet att y*" towne of 
Kingsesse in y' Schuylkills."^ It does not appear that this first 
removal of our seat of justice met with any serious opposition 
from the inhabitants of Upland or its vicinity. 

The first Court was held at the new seat of justice, on the 13th 

1 Watson's Ann. i. 512. 2 Rgc. Upland Court, 170. 

3 The " Towne of Kingsesse" was located below the Philadelphia, Wilmington and 
Baltimore Railroad, and East of the Island road, in the late township of Kingsessing. 
The immediate vicinity of the Swedes mill has been assigned as the location of this 
towne, but this was not situated " in y" Schuylkills." A comparison of Holme's map 
with p. 174 of the Upland Court Record, and also with Jonas Neelson's Will, (Reg. 
Office, Phila., Book A. No. 94) will be satisfactory as respects the location of this 
"towne." 



124 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1681. 

of October. If the increased amount of law business, and the 
character of a considerable portion of it resulted from the re- 
moval of the Court, the Justices gained but little by the change. 
Among the cases tried, were three for " Slaunder and defamation." 

For the due preserving "of y* peace of o'' Souerayne Lord 
y® King," &c., the Court found it necessary to appoint a con- 
stable " to officiate between the Schuylkill and Nieshambenies 
kill." The Court also found it necessary to appoint two 
"viewers of y^ Highwayes & roads & fences," who resided in the 
same district. There was one jury trial at this Court, but the 
names of the jurors are not given. The Court did allow "of 
y** jury's verdict," and passed judgment accordingly. 

No other Court was held till March, 1681, when nothing of 
importance was transacted. At the Court held in the following 
June, "Justice Otto Ernest Coch acquaints the Court, that hee 
has bought and paid of ye Indian proprietors a certaine swampy 
or marshy Island called by ye Indians quistconk Lying att the 
upper End of Tinnachkonk Island in ye river opposit andrews 
Boones creek; and desires y^ Co'''^ approbation. The Cor* 
hauing well informed themselves about y" p'^mises, doe allow 
thereof."^ 

There was also a jury of seven men empanneled at this Court, 
viz. : James Sauderlins, Will: Boyles, John Boeyar, harmen 
Ennis, Will: orian, andries petress and oele raesen. 

The Dutch clergyman at Wicaco, " Magist" Jacobus fabritius, " 
"not finding his dues regularly paid," upon application to the 
Court, obtained an order, " that y^ church wardens of the pe- 
ticon""'" church doe take care that Every one of those as haue signed 
and promised towards his maintaynance, doe pay him y" sumes 
promised, upon payne of Execution ag^* y^ defective."^ This 
Magister did well to make sure of his pay in time. The advent 
of a new Government was at hand, in which such claims could 
not be viewed with much favor. 

Roads and highways are frequently mentioned in the pro- 
ceedings of the Upland and New Castle Courts, but it is not to 
be supposed that these ways, at this early day, were used for 
wheeled vehicles of any kind. The usual mode of travelling 
was either by water or on horseback ; but the roads, such as 
they were, required some repairs, and hence the appointment of 
overseers. No taxes were laid, but those who refused to work 
on the highways were subjected to a fine. This practice con- 
tinued for many years under Penn's Government. The imposi- 
tion of a fine of 25 gilders, for neglecting to work on the roads, 
was among the last acts of the Upland Court under the Duke's 
Government. 

1 Ree. Upland Court, 190. This island is Hog Island of the present day. 

2 Rec. Upland Court, 191. 



1681.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 125 

During the year 1680, William Penn had heen persevering! y, 
bttt successfully negotiating with King Charles the Second and 
his ministers, for a grant of the territory that now constitutes 
our great Commonwealth. The only European settlements 
comprised within its limits, were included in Upland county, and 
were subject to the jurisdiction of Upland Court. Though Lord 
Baltimore, the proprietor of Maryland, was aware of every step 
taken by Penn to secure his grant, and, through his agents, in- 
terposed objections, it is not probable that the people in- 
cluded within the limits of the embryo Province, had the faintest 
idea that they were about to be transferred from the iron rule of 
the unscrupulous Duke of York, to the mild and peaceful Govern- 
ment of the Quaker proprietor. The patent to Penn was exe- 
cuted on the 4th of March, 1681, while the last Upland Court, 
under the Duke of York, adjourned on the 14th of June, " till 
y-e 2d Teusday of y^ month of September," — the very last act of 
the Judges being the appointment of a Surveyor and Overseer 
of the Highways from Poetquessing creek to. the Falls of the 
Delaware, (Trenton,) the furthest point to which settlements 
had then been extended. 

Information of the grant to William Penn must have been 
communicated officially to the Government at New York very 
shortly after the adjournment of the last session of the Upland 
Court. Governor Andros being absent, the King's letter on the 
subject, addressed to the inhabitants within the limits of the 
grant, was laid before Anthony ]3rockholl, the Commander, and 
his Council, no doubt, by William Markham, who, at the same 
time, submitted his commission from William Penn to be his 
Deputy Governor of the Province. On the 21st of June, the 
Commander and Council addressed a letter " To y® severall 
Justices of y Peace, magistraets and other officers inhabitting 
w*''in y** bounds and limits" of the grant to Penn, notifying them 
of the change in their Government, which letter was sent by 
Col. Markham, who, no doubt, within a few days after the date 
of the letter, reached his Government, and entered upon the 
duties of his office. This letter is the last entry made in the 
book containing the Record of the Upland Court. 

Before parting with this record, which throws so much light 
on the history of the time during which it was made, and from 
which I have drawn so liberally, it will be necessary to make 
some general observations. 

The territorial jurisdiction of the Court, it will have been ob- 
served, was very extensive. Except the provisional line that 
separated it from New Castle County, its jurisdiciion at first 
extended to the last approaches that civilization had made on 
the home of the savage. Subsequently its jurisdiction was 



126 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1681.' 

limited to the west side of the Delaware. The earliest notice of 
a Court at Upland, is on the 18th of August, 1672. Evidence 
of the existence of Records of an earlier date than those which 
have come down to us, is found in these Records themselves. 
These commence on the 14th of November, 1676, and end at 
the time just mentioned. When a Court was first established at 
Upland cannot now be ascertained. It was, in all probability, 
as early as the establishment of English authority on the river, 
and may have been earlier. If but one Court was at first 
established by the English, its probable location was at New 
Castle. Upon the establishment of two, the natural location of one 
ofthem would be Upland. At the time our Record commences, it 
was one of three Courts on the river — " one at New Castle, 07ie 
above at Uplands, another below at the Whorekill;" the latter 
evidently being of recent establishment. The Court established 
at New Castle was the most important, being held monthly ; the 
others were to be held quarterly, "or oftener if ocasion ;" but 
that of Upland was really held less frequently. 

These Courts possessed both criminal and civil jurisdiction. 
In criminal matters their powers were about equal to those of 
our Courts of Quarter Sessions, while in civil cases not involving 
more than £20, the judgment of each Court was final. In cases 
involving a larger amount, an appeal could be taken to the Court 
of Assizes of New York, and so of crimes of the higher grades. 
Parties could demand a trial by jury, but in the Upland Court 
this privilege was only claimed in three or four instances during 
the nearly five years that its Records have been preserved, and 
in one of these instances the verdict of the jury was wholly dis- 
regarded by the Court. By the " Duke's Lawes," no jury could 
" exceed the number seaven nor be under six, unless in special 
causes upon life and death, the Justices shall think fitt to appoint 
twelve." This will account for only seven men being empan- 
neled in one of the cases where the jurors' names are given in 
the Record. Except in cases of life and death, the major part 
of the jury, when agreed, could give in a verdict, "the minor 
being concluded by the major without any allowance of any pro- 
test by any of them to the contrary."^ 

In Equity matters the Court of Upland exercised jurisdiction. 
It also made local regulations, which in these days would have 
required an Act of the Legislature. The Justices, either as a 
Court or a Board, performed all the duties that are now per- 
formed by County Commissioners, Directors of the Poor, and 
Auditors. The Court granted applications for taking up land, 
received returns of surveys, and had acknowledgments of trans- 
fers of real estate between parties made before it. It regulated 

1 Dxike's laws, N. Y. Hist. Col. i. 358. 



1681.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 127 

the affairs of the Church, and exercised a general supervision 
over the various concerns of the body politic — such as the 
repairs of highways, the maintenance of fences, the sale of the 
time of servants, and even to the recording of the ear marks of 
cattle. Besides the Court, the Sheriff and Surveyor, the govern- 
ment possessed no agent charged with the performance of civil 
duties within the County of Upland.^ 

A legal gentleman who has carefully examined the Record of 
the Upland Court, remarks " that the forms of proceeding were 
of a character no less primitive and incongruous than the juris- 
diction of the Court, partaking rather of the nature of suits 
before an ordinary Justice of the Peace than those of a Court of 
Record. The ' Instructions' directed ' all writts, warrants, and 
proceedings at Lawe to be in his majesty's name.' A declara- 
tion, or informal statement of the cause of action seems to have 
been required, and a rule was adopted directing it to be entered 
at least one day before the Court met. Although the technical 
names of actions were used in many cases, such as action on the 
case, slander, &c., no actual division of actions was known, these 
names having probably been taken from ' y® Lawe Booke' re- 
ferred to occasionally. There does not, in fact, seem to have 
been any clearly drawn distinction between civil and criminal 
cases ; a proceeding exclusively civil in its character frequently 
resulting in a judgment, partially at least, appropriate to a 
criminal case. In short, the whole method of practice was rather 
a dispensation of justice, as the ideas of it existed in the heads, 
and was tempered by the hearts of the Judges, than the admin- 
istration of any positive law, written or unwritten." 

Offences, criminal in their nature, were usually punished by 
the imposition of a fine ; the want of a jail precluded imprison- 
ment. Corporal punishment by whipping, was, in a few in- 
stances, resorted to by the Court at New Castle, but it forms no 
part of any sentence of the Court of Upland contained in the 
Record. But this Record has been mutilated by cutting out two 
leaves ; and as the minutes of the Court next following that of 
which the Record is thus defective, contains a bill of costs against 
parties of bad repute, in which there is a charge of 101 gilders 
''^ for 'payment of the Indians that whipt, etc.," it may be inferred 
that corporal punishment was resorted to in one single instance, 
and that Indians were employed in its infliction. In this view 
of the matter, it is not difficult to account for the mutilation of 
the Record. 

The fines imposed were sometimes remitted by the Court. 
This was especially the case when one of the Justices had an 

1 The Commander sometimes sat with the Justices; Supervisors and Constables 
were appointed by the Court. 



128 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1681. 

interest in the matter. In one instance, a fine of 1000 gilders 
was thus remitted. An open acknowledgment in Court of the 
offence committed, or the asking of forgiveness from the offended 
party, sometimes constituted a part or the whole of a sentence. 

The Justices were uneducated, but well-meaning men. A com- 
mendable desire to maintain the dignity of the positions they 
occupied had some little influence upon their acts. Otherwise, 
the most careful scrutiny of the Records will show that they 
acted with the strictest regard to justice and the preservation of 
the public morals. 

This Record, and that of New Castle Court, give us a good 
idea of the condition of our people in these early times, socially 
and otherwise. 

Common labor, per day, was worth from 50 styvers to 4 gil- 
ders, according to the season. Wheat was worth 5 gilders, rye 
and barley 4, and Indian corn 3 per scipple. Tobacco or pork 
was worth 8 styvers per lb., and bacon double as much. In 
1677, Newcastle Court ordered "that the gilder pay should be 
recond ag^' Tobb" in Maryland at 6 styv""^ pr lb." A cow was 
appraised at 150 gilders, and other cattle at rather less prices. 

It was the practice of the Swedes to erect their dwellings 
immediately On the margin of the river or tide water creeks. 
Up to this time, very few if any houses had been erected in any 
other situations, — the few English settlers following the example 
of the Swedes. 

With the recent accession of English Friends from New Jersey, 
the entire population of Upland County could not have exceeded 
five hundred, at the arrival of Governor Markham ; of these, less 
than one-third resided within the territorial limits of Delaware 
County. 

It has generally been supposed that Col. Markham was accom- 
panied to Pennsylvania by emigrants; and Proud, in his History 
of Pennsylvania,^ leaves it to be inferred that this was the case, 
and that he did not arrive till near the close of the year. His 
commission as Deputy Governor, first published in Hazard's 
Annals,^ is dated on the 10th of April 1681, and we find it was 
laid before the government at New York, previously to the 21st 
of June following. Col. Markham doubtless proceeded directly 
to his government, and entered upon the responsible duties with 
which he had been entrusted. He could have made but little 
delay; foi'we find that on the 13th of September, — the very day 
to which the old Upland Court had adjourned, — a newly orga- 
nized Court for Upland County was sitting, and transacting 

1 I. p. 194. 

2 See p. 603. Mr. Hazard unexpectedly found this commission among the Records 
of the Secretary of State's oflSce at Boston. 



1681.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 129 

business, composed of Justices, Sheriff, and Clerk, holding their 
appointments under him; and on the 30th of November the 
Deputy Governor himself presiding over the same court. ^ 

Governor Markham was the bearer of a letter, dated two days 
earlier than his commission, from William Penn, " for the inhab- 
itants of Pennsylvania," which he was directed to read. In 
this letter the proprietor promises his people that they shall be 
governed by laws of their own making; that he will not usurp 
the rights of any, nor oppress his person; and in short, that he 
would heartily comply with whatever sober and free men could 
reasonably desire for the security and improvement of their own 
happiness. This letter is in the well-known hand of William 
Penn.^ 

The commission to Col. Markham empowers him '' to call a 
council, and that to consist of nine, he presiding." In pursuance 
of this authority, he selected for that important trust Robert 
Wade, Morgan Drewet, Wm. Woodmanson, William Marriner, 
Thomas Ffairman, James Sandelandes, Will. Clayton, Otto Ernest 
Koch and Lacy Cock. Unfortunately, no part of the record of 
the doings of this council has come down to us, except their 
attestation, in which they say, " wee do hereby bind ourselves by 
our hands and scales, that wee neither act nor advise, nor con- 
sent, unto anything that shall not be according to our own con- 
sciences the best for y'' true and well Government of the s*^ Pro- 
vince, and Likewise to keep secret all y" votes and acts of us y® 
s*^ Councell unless such as by the General Consent of us are to 
be Published."^ This attestation is " Dated at Vpland y^ third 
day of August 1681," the day on which a government was first 
established for the province of Pennsylvania. Upland was un- 
doubtedly the seat of that government. 

These gentlemen councillors omitted to append their '■^ seales" 
to their signatures, and two of them did not write their own 
names. 

Colonel Markham also bore a letter from the King to Lord 
Baltimore, apprising him of the grant of Pennsylvania to Penn. 
Being authorized by his commission "to settle bounds" between 
the Proprietary and his neighbors ; and as it is said the King's 
letter required both parties to adjust boundaries,* an interview was 
brought about between Lord Baltimore and Markham at Upland. 
By an astronomical observation made during this interview, it 
was ascertained that even Upland itself was twelve miles south 
of the parallel of 40 degrees, which indicated the southern 

1 The early records of this Court, which had become much worn, and were difficult 
to decipher, have been carefully copied, and are now preserved in the office of the 
Clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions, at West Chester. 

2 Haz. Reg. i. 37Y. 3 Penna. Archives, i. 37. 

* Haz. Ann. 505, who quotes Chalmers 657, and McMahon's Maryland. 



130 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1681. 

boundary of Pennsylvania. This discovery terminated the con- 
ference, and was the prelude to the protracted controversy 
between Penn and Lord Baltimore and their descendants, which 
at length resulted in the line of Mason and Dixon — a line, that 
for its notoriety has been compared by a late writer to the 
Equator.^ 

This discovery, it is supposed, was communicated to William 
Penn, and he having been an applicant to the Duke of York for 
a grant of Newcastle and the settlements below on the Delaware, 
was thereby induced to press his application more strenuously, 
under the apprehension that he might loose the whole peninsula, 
in case of failure. On the 20th of August of the following year, 
Penn obtained from the Duke a release of all claim to the terri- 
tory embraced within the limits of his patent, and, subsequently, 
a release of the territory now constituting the State of Dela- 
ware.^ 

With the royal charter, Penn published in England some 
account of his newly acquired Province, with valuable sugges- 
tions and information necessary for persons disposed to become 
colonists under him. This paper is drawn up with much care 
and truthfulness. Much of it is taken up in demonstrating the 
importance of plantations or colonies to the mother country. 
The description of the Province is brief, and by no means ex- 
aggerated; valuable directions are given to those who determine 
to emigrate, and he concludes with a desire to all who may de- 
termine to go to those parts, "to consider seriously the premises, 
as well as the present inconveniences, as future ease and plenty, 
that none may move rashly, or from fickle, but solid mind, having 
above all things an eye to the providence of God in the disposal 
of themselves.''^ 

While the public mind in England, particularly the Quaker 
element of it, Avas thus directed to the new Province, Governor 
Markham was administering affairs here very much after the 
fashion that had heretofore prevailed. He appears to have been 
indisposed to make any unnecessary innovations on the esta- 
blished order of things. It has already been mentioned that the 
first Court under the new government was held on the day to 
which the last session of the former Court had adjourned. The 
first session of the new Court was not, however, at " the towne of 
Kingsesse," but at Upland, where, no doubt. Governor Mark- 
ham had fixed his residence. The Justices of this Court were 

1 Latrobe's Address before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 1. 

2 Proud, i. 200, 202. It does not appear that the Duke of York, afterwards James 
II., ever held any territory west of the Delaware by a positive grant. He seems to 
have extended his government over it rather as a matter of convenience to the British 
Crown. 

3 Haz. Reg. i. 308. 



1681.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 131 

Messrs. William Clayton, Wm. Warner, Robert Wade, Otto 
Ern^' Cock, William Byles, Robert Lucas, Lasse Cock, Swan 
Swanson and Andreas Bankson; the Sheriff, John Test, and 
Clerk, Thomas Revell. Of the Justices, five are Englishmen and 
four Swedes, two of whom had been members of the former Court. 
The " Duke's Laws" were now inoperative. In pursuance of the 
Deputy Governor's instructions, all was to be done " according 
to the good laws of England." But the new Court, during the 
first year of its existence, failed to comply with these laws in a 
very essential particular, — persons were put upon trial without 
the intervention of a Grand Jury.^ No provision was made 
under the Duke's laws for this safeguard of the citizen, and the 
new Justices acted for a time in accordance Avith former usage. 
A petit jury, so rare under the former Court, now participates in 
every trial where facts are in dispute. In criminal cases, the 
old practice is adhered to of making the prosecutor plaintiff. 
The first case that came up for consideration was that of 
Peter Errickson, Plff., ^ 

I 
Harmon Johnson & Margaret his wife, Deft. [ 

An action of Assault & Batt^. J 

Jurors. Morgan Drewett, Wm. Woodmanson, Wm. Hewes, 
James Browne, Henry Reynolds, Robert Schooley, Richards Pitt- 
man, Lassey Dalboe, John Ackraman, Peter Rambo, Jr., Henry 
Hastings, & William Oxley. Witness, William Parke. 

The jury find for the plaintiff; give him 6d. damages, his costs 
of suit. 

In the next case the parties are reversed; the offence charged 
being the same, and tried by the same jurors. The witnesses 
were Anna Coleman, Richard Buffington, and Ebenezer Taylor. 
The jury find for the plaintiffs 40 [shillings] and their costs of 
suit. 

At this first session of the Court, nine cases were tried and 
sixteen withdrawn ; among the latter were two " for disobeying 
the Justice's order." In the last case tried, which was for debt, 
the verdict was 62 gilders — an evidence of the lasting influence 
of the ascendency of the Dutch on the river. 

It having come to the ears of Justice Lassey Cock, that he 
had been accused of speaking certain improper words to the 
Indians, proclamation was made in the Court " that if any had 
anything against him, they should declare it; whereupon Daniel 
Brenson and Charles Brigham, upon oath, together with Walter 
Humphrey, upon his solemn attestation, declared what they 

1 Many of the early criminal cases, having the form of civil actions for damages, 
the defendants thereby really escaped a trial as criminals, and the necessity of a 
Grand Jury was obviated. 



132 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1681. 

heard certain Indians speak against him and Captain Edmund 
Cantwell ; the said Lassey Cock, upon oath, declared his inno- 
cencj, and that he had never spoken those words to the Indians, 
or any of that nature, was thereupon cleared by the Court." 

Letters of Administration were granted by the Court to 
Caspar Fiske on the Estate of Eusta Daniell — security in <£100, 
given to Robert Wade and William Clayton. 

Besides the English names already mentioned, there occur, 
in the proceedings of this Court those of Richard Ridgeway, 
Francis Stephenson, Richard Noble, John Champion, Thomas 
Nossiter, John Wood, and William Cobb. These and many 
others had become residents of Upland County prior to the date 
of Penn's patent. Most of those who were Friends emigrated 
with the early West Jersey settlers, but for some reason settled 
on the West side of the river. 

At the next Court, which was held on the 30th of November, 
Deputy Governor Markham presided, and James Sandelandes 
and Thomas Fairman, with all those who held the last Court, 
sat as Justices, except William Warner, who was absent. But 
four cases were tried at this Court ; one withdrawn and one 
continued. 

Three ships sailed from England for Pennsylvania this year ; 
two from London and one from Bristol. No particulars of the 
arrival of the John ^ Sarah, which is said to have arrived 
first, are given ; but we are informed by Proud,^ that the 
Bristol Factor, Roger Drew commander, •' arrived at the place 
where Chester now stands, on the 11th of December, where the 
passengers seeing some houses, went on shore at Rohert Wade's 
landing near the lower side of Chester Creek; and the river 
having froze up that night, the passengers remained there all 
winter." The other ship, the Amity, "having been blown off 
to the West-Indies, did not arrive until the Spring of the next 
year." 

Proud places the arrival of William Markham in one of these 
ships, with certain commissioners, whom he says were joined 
with him, " to confer with the Indians or Aboriginies of the 
Country respecting their lands, and to confirm with them a 
league of peace." It is possible that certain Commissioners 
arrived on board of one or more of these vessels, but they were 
not associated with the Deputy Governor as has been mentioned. 
The only purchase of land that was made from the Indians for 
the Proprietary before his arrival, was the large purchase on the 
Delaware above Shackamaxon,^ which was made by Markham 
alone, although the Commissioners were then in the country. 

The Commissioners were William Crispin, William Haige, 

1 Hist. Penna. i. 193. ^ Penna. Archives, i. 47-48. 



1681.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 138 

John Bezer, and Nathaniel Allen. William Crispin was ap- 
pointed Surveyor-General as well as Commissioner, but died 
before his arrival, whereupon Thomas Holme was appointed in 
his place. Though thej appear to have been authorized to treat 
with the Indians and purchase their lands, their instructions^ 
show that their main business was to fix upon the site of and 
lay out a city — to survey and apportion lands and city lots 
among the newly arrived immigrants, who had for the most part 
made their purchases in England. The following extract from 
these instructions, no doubt gave rise to the tradition that Penn 
had fixed on Upland or Chester as the site of his great city. 

" That having taken what care you can for the people's good, 
in these respects abovesaid, let the rivers and creeks be sounded 
on my side of Delaware E,iver, especially Upland, in order to 
settle a great town, and be sure to make your choice where it is 
most navigable, high, dry, and healthy ; that is where most 
ships may best ride, of deepest draught of water, if possible to 
load or unload at the bank or keys side without boating and 
lightening of it. It would do well if the river coming into that 
creek be navigable, at least for boats up into the country, and 
that the situation be high, at least dry and sound, and not 
swampy, which is best known by digging up two or three earths 
and seeing the bottom." 

The celebrated "conditions and concessions" agreed upon 
between Penn, and those who became " adventurers and purcha- 
sers" under him, were published in England some time before 
the date of the letter of instructions to the Commissioners. 
Thomas Holme, the Surveyor-General, did not arrive till the 
last of June of the following year. 

Although the minutes of the Council of Governor Markham 
are not to be found, there is a document preserved, that shows 
that one of its first acts was the prohibition of the sale of strong 
drinks to the Indians. This paper is a petition to the Governor 
and Council over the uncouth signatures of Passayunk Indians, 
asking the removal of the prohibition, on the ground that there 
was no prohibition in New Castle, " and that they find it a 
greater ill-convenience than before, our Indians going down to 
New Castle, and there buying rum and making them more 
debauched than before."^ 

It will be remembered that Robert Wade was settled at Up- 
land in 1675, and that William Edmundson, a travelling preacher 
of the Society of Friends, held a meeting at his house during 
that year. Robert Wade was a purchaser from John Fenwick, 

1 For these instructions see Haz. Ann. 527-531. Also Appendix p. 637. A letter 
was addressed by Penn to the Indians dated on the 18th of October, couched in the 
most kind and conciliatory language, which was probably sent by one of the Commis- 
sioners. — See Haz. Reg. i. 576. Haz. Ann. 532. 

2 Haz. Ann. 631. 



134 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1682. 

in England/ and it is supposed emigrated with him in 1675, but 
from some cause he preferred to settle at Upland, being, with 
his wife, among the first Quakers who settled in Pennsylvania. 
It is not therefore probable that a Friends' meeting was held in 
Pennsylvania earlier than that year, — the first being held at the 
house of Robert Wade. No meeting of Record was held till the 
year 1681, the following being the earliest minute : 

"The 10*'^ day of the IV^ month 1681. A monthly meeting 
of Friends belonging to Marcus-hook, alias the Chester and Up- 
land, held at the house of Robert Wade." 

These meetings for a time were held alternately at the places 
designated, and constituted one monthly meeting. That held at 
Robert Wade's eventually became " Chester Monthly meeting," 
while from the Chichester, or Marcus Hook meeting, originated 
at first the Chichester Monthly meeting, which subsequently be- 
came merged in that of Concord. 

The only Quaker heads of families that were settled at 
Chester and Marcus Hook, or in the vicinity of those places, 
before the arrival of the first ship sent out by Penn, so far as the 
author can discover, were Robert Wade, Roger Pedrick, 
Morgan Drewet, William Woodmanson, Michael Izzard, Thomas 
Revel, Henry Hastings, William Oxley, James Browne, Henry 
Reynolds, and Thomas Nossiter. 

There were no other Friends then settled within the present 
territorial limits of our County, but quite a number were located 
higher up the river on the Pennsylvania side of it. 

The next Court for Upland County was held at Upland on the 
14th of March, 1682, which, according to the Record, is still 
within the year 1681. This Court was held by the same, or 
nearly the same Justices, Deputy Governor Markham presiding. 
The details of a trial that occurred at this Court are given, to 
illustrate the manner of conducting judicial proceedings in these 
primitive times : 

" J A , bound by recognizance to appear at this 

Court to answer our Sovereign Lord the King upon the accusa- 
tion of Richard Noble, Peter Rambo Jun'', and Lawrence Law- 
renson, who were bound over to prosecution. This Court pro- 
ceeded upon indictment;^ to which the prisoner pleaded not 
guilty : and put himself upon the tryal &c., of this Jury :" 

JURORS. 

" George Foreman Gent. Albert Hendrickson 

John Child Mons Peterson 

Nathaniel Allen Wooley Rawson 

Nathaniel Evans John Cock 

William Oxley Erich Cock 

John Akraman Peter Yoakum." 

Penna. Archives, i. 57. ^ There was no Grand Jury. 



1682.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 135 

" Richard Noble deposed that hee, with several others, found 
divers peeces of burnte porke or bacon in the said A's 
house ; and also that hee the said Richard Noble with others 
found hidden in unfrequented places in an out house belonging 

to the said J A , where, (as an Indian had before then 

informed them,) the said A used to hide porke ; and further 

deposed that the said A gave out threatining words against 

the officers and others who came to search." 

" Peter Rambo Junr. and Lawrence Lawrenson deposed the 

same as above. Judith Noble deposed that the said A gave 

out threatning words against the officers who came to search." 

" Francis Walker deposed that a person who bought a peece 

of porke of the said A , told him the said Walker that the 

said porke had a bullet in it." 

" Francis Stephens deposed that the said A being asked 

concerning a hogg's head, (hee, the said A , having then a 

headless hogg,) where the head then was, hee, the said A , 

answered, hee had left the head down the river ; and the said 
A — 's boy said noe, the hogg's head is upon the mill att home." 

"John Hollinshead gave in his evidence before Thomas Budd, 
a magistrate at Burlington, which was also produced under the 
hand of the said Thomas Budd, being of the same import with 
the deposition of the aforesaid Francis Stephens." 

" Thomas Wallis gave in his evidence before the same Thomas 
Budd, and testified under the hand of the said Thomas Budd, 
of the same import with the aforesaid Judith Noble's testimony." 

" Another examination of notorious circumstances, of a stran- 
ger who lay at the said A 's, taken by Mahlon Stacey, a 

magistrate at the Falls, and signified under his hand." 

" The jury bring in the prisoner not guilty, and thereupon by 
order of Court is discharged." 

The following minute of the doings of the same Court, is a further 
proof that Gov. Markhamand his Council had placed some restraint 
upon the sale of strong drink, to others besides the Indians. 

" Henry Reynolds having appeared to answer for his selling 
strong liquors by small measure in his house contrary to the 
Qovernor and CounceVs order ; upon his submission to the Court, 
was discharged." 

" Overseers for the Highways nominated and elected at the 
Court, March 14*'', 1681 [1682] for one year next ensuing, 
which is to be done within their respective precincts, before the 
last day of May next, ut sequitur:" 

" Woolley Rawson, from Marcus creek to Naman's creek." 

" Robert Wade, from Naaman's [Marcus] Creek to Upland 
creeke." 

" William Oxley from Upland Creeke to Ammersland." 



136 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1682. 

"Mens Stawket from Ammersland to Karkus mill." 

" Peter Yokeham from Karkus Mill to Schore kill [Schuyl- 
kill] falls." 

" Andreas Rambo from Schore kill falls to Tawrony [Taconyj 
Creeke." 

"Erick Mullikay from Tawrony Creeke to Poynessink Creek ; 
Clause Johnson from Poynessink creeke to Samuel Cliflfs." 

"John Akraman, from Samuel CliflFs to Gilbert Wheelers." 

Gilbert Wheeler's residence was in the neighborhood of Tren- 
ton, which shows the territorial extent of Upland County. The 
main road that required repairs appears to have crossed the 
Schuylkill and other streams at or near the head of tide water. 

On the 12th of June, messengers from Lord Baltimore, with 
letters to Governor Markham, arrived at Upland, but the Go- 
vernor being on a visit to* New York, James Sandelandes and 
Robert Wade dispatched a messenger to him, with the Lord Bal- 
timore's communicatiryh, and also a letter from them, advising 
him that Commissioners were in waiting, ready to meet him, at 
Bohemia river. f ■'" 

"The grant formerly made from Governor Markham to the 
inhabitants of Marcus Hooke att their request for the calling 
the name of the said Town Chichester, which said grant bears 
date the twentieth day of April 1682, and was read and pub- 
lished in the Court held at Upland June the thirteenth Anno 
1682, according to order as a record thereof." This was the 
fourth Court held under Governor Markham's administration. 

At the first Court under his government, the English currency 
of pounds, shillings and pence was introduced, but at this Court 
there was a return to the old currencj. of gilders, so difficult is it 
to change the established customs of a people. One verdict at 
this Court is for 616 gilders, and there are several for a less 
number. " Skipps of wheat," also occur in the proceedings. 

The next Court in order was held on the 12th of September, 
1682. Governor Markham officiated as President, and was as- 
sisted by several of the Justices that have been named. 

The first Grand Jury that ever sat in Pennsylvania of Avhich 
there is any record, was summoned to attend at this Court. 
Their names, as given in the minutes of the Court, are William 
Clayton, Thomas Brassey, John Symcock, Tho. Sary, Robert 
Wade, Lawrence Cock, John Hart, Nath". Allen, William Wood- 
manson, Tho'. Coebourne, John Otter and Joshua Hastings; 
being one half the usual number. These jurors were summoned 
in the case of Lassey, alias Lawrence Dalboe, and are called 
his " Grand Jury."^ 

1 Proud, Hist. Penna. i. 240, says that the Grand Jury that sat in the ease of Pick- 
ering, tried before the Council in 1683 for counterfeiting coin was the first, but this is 
a luistal^e. 



1682.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 137 

The first order for filing an Administration account was made 
at this Court. The Administrator was directed to appear at the 
next or the following Court, " and bring into the Court the bills 
of the Creditors or other satisfaction, signifying to the Court 
the justness of each particular debt, and also to produce his re- 
ceipts for what he hath paid." 

This is the last Court held previous to the arrival of the Pro- 
prietary. Quite a number of Friends had arrived here since 
Markham came to the country. Among those who settled within 
the territorial limits of Delaware County, were Richard Fewe, 
John Kennerly, Thomas Cobourn, Jeremiah Coliett, Richard 
Worrall, Henry Grubb, and John Simcock. 

Before introducing the Proprietary into this land of promise, 
it may not be amiss to enlighten the reader in respect to the 
progress made in religious affairs by the Friends who had pre- 
ceded him. 

At a monthly meeting held at Chester the llth of the 7th mo. 
(September) 1682, it was agreed " that a meeting shall be held 
for the service and worship of God every first day of the week 
at the Court house at Chester."^ It was also agreed, "that there 
be three meetings in the week ; the Western part to meet at 
Chichester the 5th day of the week ; the middle meeting at Ha- 
rold at the house of William Woodmanson the 4th day of the 
week, and the Eastern meeting at Ridley at John Simcocksthe 5th 
day of the week until otherwise ordered." It was further ordered 
that " the monthly meeting for business be held the 1^' Second 
day of the week in every month at the house of Robert Wade." 

The world did not contain a more busy man than William 
Penn, from the time the charter for Pennsylvania was granted 
to him until he sailed for America. Besides the documents 
issued by him, that have already been mentioned, he incorporated 
a company with extraordinary powers and privileges, styled the 
^'■Free Society of Traders ;'' he published his " Frame of Govern- 
ment for the province of Pennsylvania, together with certain 
laws agreed upon in England by the Governor and divers free- 
men of the aforesaid Province ;" he obtained from the Duke of 
York a release of any claims he might have to the province of 
Pennsylvania ; and also two deeds of feofi'ment for the territory 
now constituting the State of Delaware — one being for twelve 
miles round New Castle, and the other for the balance of the 
territory below f he wrote innumerable letters to his friends, and 

1 This Court-house was doubtless the "House of Defence." 

2 Although the territory west of the Delaware had been governed by the Duke of 
York, he at this time held no valid title to any part of it. King Charles II. made a 
regular conveyance to him of the country comprised within the present territorial 
limits of the State of Delaware, on the 22d of March, 1683 ; the deeds from the Duke 
to Penn for the same country^ were executed on the 24th of August, 1682. See Hrk. 
Reg. i. 429-430 ; ii. 27. 



138 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1682. 

sundry epistles to the settlers and the Indians, besides being sub- 
jected to various importunities to part with his lands and to 
confer privileges on terms different from those which he had 
adopted and published. 

With his mind thus overtasked with questions of the highest 
moment, would it not have been wonderful if he had committed 
no mistakes ? Is it not strange that he committed so few ? We 
may at this day be startled at some of the privileges granted to 
"The Free Society of Traders;" but may we not, with Penn's 
limited experience with corporations, believe in the sincerity of 
his assurance, that it was ^ a Society without oppression : wherein 
all may be concerned that will ; and yet have the same liberty of 
private traffique, as though there were no Society at all." Cer- 
tainly we may concede this much, when it is known that he re- 
sisted the "great temptation" of ,£6000 and two and a half per 
cent, acknowledgment or rent for a monopoly of the Indian trade 
between the Susquehanna and Delaware with 30,000 acres of 
land, the Indian title of which to be extinguished by the corpo- 
ration.^ Penn's ideas of government were greatly in advance of 
the age in which he lived. The few errors he committed were 
the result of surrounding circumstances. No friend of humanity 
can quibble over these, when he reflects upon the mighty impulse 
that was given to the cause of free government by his many wise 
and prudent measures. 

Having completed his arrangements in England, Penn sailed 
from Deal on the 30th of the Sixth month (then August), on 
board of the ship Welcome, Robert Greenaway commander, in 
company with about 100 passengers, mostly members of the 
Society of Friends, the major part of whom were from Sussex.^ 
Great distress was experienced during the passage, in conse- 
quence of the breaking out of the small-pox, of which loathsome 
disease 30 of the emigrants died. Otherwise the voyage was 
prosperous, the vessel arriving at New Cast^ on the 27th of 
October, 1682. On the next day, Penn having produced his 
deeds of feoffment from the Duke of York for the twelve miles 
surrounding New Castle, and also for the country below, the 
possession and seisin of the New Castle grant were formally given 
to him by John Moll and Ephraim Herman, who had been con- 
stituted attorneys for that purpose by his Royal Highness.^ At 
the same time, a number of the inhabitants signed a pledge of 
their obedience to the Proprietary.* On the same day he com- 
missioned Justices for New Castle, and constituted Markham his 
attorney to receive the possession of the territory below from the 
attorneys of the Duke. 

1 Haz. Ann. 522. 2 Proud, i. 204; Janney, 194. 

3 New Castle Rec. ; Haz. Ann. 597-606. 

* New Castle Rec. ; Patent Book, Harrisburg, A. 2, p. 121 ; Haz. Ann. 598. 



1682.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 139 

A letter addressed to Ephraim Herman in respect to summon- 
ing a Court to be held at New Castle on the 2d of November, 
and dated at Upland on the 29th of October,^ shows that he had 
then arrived at his seat of Government. He may have arrived 
the day before. The fancy of the artist has portrayed the 
landing of Penn at Upland; but neither the hour, the day, nor 
the manner of his landing, is certainly known. 

He landed at Upland, but the place was to bear that familiar 
name no more for ever. Without reflection, Penn determined that 
the name of this place should be changed. " Turning round to 
his friend Pearson, one of his own society, who had accompanied 
him in the ship Welcome, he said, ^Providence has brought us 
here safe. Thou hast been the companion of my perils. What 
wilt thou that I should call this place ?' Pearson said 
' Chester,' in remembrance of the city from whence he came. 
William Penn replied that it should be called Chester, and that 
when he divided the land into counties, one of them should be 
called by the same name."^ Thus from a mere whim, the name 
of the oldest town ; the name of the whole settled part of the 
province ; the name that would naturally have a place in the 
affections of a large majority of the inhabitants of the new 
province, was effaced, to gratify the caprice or vanity of a 
friend. All great men occasionally do little things. 

Immediately after Penn's arrival, he dispatched messengers 
to Lord Baltimore, evidently for the purpose of procuring an 
interview and a settlement of their difficulties. He at the same 
time went to New York, to "pay his duty" to the Duke by way 
of a visit to his government. Upon his return he caused three 
counties to be laid off — Chester, Philadelphia, and Bucks. The 
precise time and manner of making these divisions will probably 
be ascertained when the Record of the doings of Governor 
Markham and his Council is discovered. The lines on either 
side of Chester County, it will hereafter be seen, were not very 
definitely fixed for some time. 

In pursuance of Writs of Election sent to the Sheriffs of the 
several Counties, elections were held for members of Assembly. 
No list of the members elected has been discovered ; the names 
of several appear in the imperfect minutes of their proceedings. 

The first Assembly was held at Chester, 4th of 10th mo. 
(December) 1682, being the 2d day of the week. The first 
business was the appointment of a Committee on Election privi- 
leges, consisting of Christopher Taylor for Bucks County ; 
President Moore for Philadelphia, John Simcock for Chester, 
William Clark for Deal,^ and Francis Whitwell for Jones. " A 

1 Haz. Ann. 599. — Clarkson says he visited New York before going to Upland. 

2 Clarkson's life of Penn, i. 259.— Haz. Ann. 695. 

3 Jones and Deal were then the names of the two counties below New Castle. 



140 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. ' [1682. 

committee for Grievance" was also appointed, viz : Griffith 
Jones, Luke Watson, William Sample, William Yardley, and 
Thomas Brassey. It was Resolved that Ralph Withers " on 
extraordinary occasions, have leave from this house to be absent 
to-morrow." 

Then " the house adjourned to the 10th hour to-morrow." 

"About the time appointed the house sat." 

"Dr. Moore, President of the Society in Philadelphia," [of 
Free Traders] it was reported by the Committee, " should be 
preferred as chairman." 

" Then they called to account the Sheriff of New Castle, 
for undue electing a member to serve in Assembly for that 
County." John Moll was declared duly elected from New 
Castle, instead of Abraham Mann. 

John Simcock and Christopher Taylor were appointed a Com- 
mittee of '■'■Foresight for the preparation of provincial bills." 

" Then the House proceed further unto four more for the said 
Committee, viz, W"" Clark, Nicholas Moore, President, Griffith 
Jones, and Luke Watson." 

" It being moved that an address be sent to the Governor, 
by four select members, humbly to desire him to honour the 
house with a transmission of his constitutes ; and thereupon 
appointed Thomas Holmes, Surveyor General, William Clarke, 
Thomas Winn, and Edward Southrin, should go with the afore- 
said address, and make a return of his answer in the afternoon." 

In the afternoon, " the Governor's answer by the four mem- 
bers was': that the Constitutions they desired, were not ready, 
but when ready he would immediately send them by one of his 
servants." 

Rules and regulations for the government of the proceedings 
of the Assembly were adopted, some of which are not found in 
legislative Manuals of the present day. 

" Offending members were to be reproved for the first offence ; 
for the second reproval and fine of 12c?., and so for each offence 
not to exceed 10s." A resolution was not before the House till 
" seconded or thirded." Any member presuming to pervert the 
sense of questions agreed to by the house, was to be " put out 
of the house." Two members were elected, "to inspect which 
party carried it by the major votes, on diversity of votes arising 
in the house." On the question, "whether the house now 
proceed or not," on a division, the noes go out; if for adjourn- 
ment, the yeas. None to speak but once before the question is 
put, nor after but once. 

Most of the rules adopted are, however, substantially the same 
as those now used in legislative bodies, though given in the 
quaint language of the day. 



1682.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 141 

A question propounded by the speaker — "Whether any abso- 
lute note of distinction betwixt one oflScer and another should 
be concluded on by vote, as the carrying a white rod or reed," 
shows there was some disposition to follow the etiquette of the 
home government. This question was left in suspense. 

A petition was presented, "for an act of Union" between the 
freemen of the three lower Counties, and those of Pennsylvania. 
It was delivered by John Moll and Francis Whitwell, in the 
name of the rest of the Freeholders, and "was accepted and ap- 
proved of by the whole house." 

The act providing for the "aforesaid Union," after being re- 
gularly passed, was carried by the President and Christopher 
Taylor to the Governor, in order to get " his subscription as an 
established law." 

A petition is presented to the Governor from the Swedes, 
Finns and Dutch, that he "would be pleased to make them as 
free as other members of this province, and that their lands may 
be entailed on them and their heirs forever." 

"The printed laws and the written laws or constitutions" 
were at length brought before the house, and after having been 
altered or amended, were finally adopted. "The power of the 
Free Society of Traders was also debated." This ended the 
second day's proceedings. 

" The house met again about half an hour past seven in the 
morning of the 7th day of the 10th month, 1682." The Gover- 
nor assuming the chair expresses himself in an obliging and reli- 
gious manner to the house." After having been consulted by 
the President on " divers material concerns," the Governor 
"urges upon the house his religious counsel." 

A debate, of some warmth, appears to have ensued in respect 
to the time to which the Assembly should adjourn; twenty-one 
days appears to ha\e been fixed on, at which the members of the 
lower counties "were in a great strait." Two members were 
thereupon appointed to inform the Governor of it, who returned 
with intelligence that the Governor is willing "that the assembly 
adjourn for twenty-one days, which was done by order of the 
speaker." 

There was probably no meeting held at the end of twenty-one 
days, or at any other time by this first legislature. There are 
no minutes of such a meeting, nor laws of that date.^ 

No list of members being given, the names of all the represen- 
tatives from Chester County cannot be given. The following 
Chester County names appear incidentally in the minutes: — 
John Simcock, Thomas Brasey, Ralph Withers, and Thomas 
Usher. It would appear that the members of the "first Assem- 
bly" received no pay for their services. The next Assembly did 

1 Votes of Assembly, 



142 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1683. 

not, however, allow a question of such vital importance to pass 
by without being "argued." 

"The great law, or the body of laws," embracing many sec- 
tions or separate laws, was passed by the first assembly, besides 
the act of Union and Naturalization and the act of Settlement. 

All the acts except the last had been prepared and well con- 
sidered, before being presented to the legislature. This act be- 
came necessary on account of the people of the several counties 
refusing to elect 72 members of council, and to assemble in mass 
to constitute the first Assembly, as had been provided for by 
Penn in his Frame of Government, and in accordance with the 
writs that had been issued to the Sheriffs of the several counties. 
This act fixed the number of the Council at three from each 
county, and the Assembly at double that number. It also pro- 
vides for other matters connected with future legislation. It 
was no doubt prepared at Chester on the occasion, and this fact 
explains why the Proprietary was not ready for the Assembly 
when they met.^ 

On what was considered the most reliable tradition, it has 
been universally believed that this Assembly held its sittings in 
an old building which till recently stood on the west side of Fil- 
bert street, near the margin of Chester creek, and which was 
familiarly known as "the old Assembly house." It will be 
shown in another place that this building was erected several 
years subsequently to the sitting of the Assembly. It is most 
probable that the first Assembly sat in the "House of defence," 
as it was then the only public building erected in Upland of 
which we have any account. 

Every material particular in respect to the first Assembly has 
been given, because its sittings were held within the territorial 
limits of what was then Chester, but is now Delaware county. 
The next Assembly under a new election was held at Philadel- 
phia on the 12th of March following, where it continued to sit, 
with occasional meetings at Newcastle, while the union with the 
Lower Counties lasted. A list of the members of the Legislature 
elected each year for Chester county till Delaware county was 
organized, and subsequently those of Delaware county, will be 
found in the Appendix, Note D. 

The last Court for the County of Upland, embracing all the 
settled parts of Pennsylvania, was held on the 12th of Septem- 
ber, 1682. The first Court for Chester county met at Chester on 
the 14th of February following, but from some cause adjourned 
till the 27th of that month without transacting any business At 
this Court there is a marked change in the aspect of things. 

1 For this act see Laws of Penna. fol. Appendix 4. (1762.) 



1683.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 143 

The name of no Swede^ remains in the list of Justices, and but 
two are found in the list of Jurors, and the Mr. that had always 
been appended to the names of the Justices, and to that of the 
Clerk and Sheriff, is now uniformly omitted. 

The form of attestation for Jurors, adopted by Penn, is not 
given in the Records of the Chester Court. The following is re- 
corded at New Castle, under the date of Feb. 22, 1682-3 : 

" The forme to bee used in y® Roome of y^ oath for y® Jury as 
the same was delivered in Cor* by y* Hono""^ William Penn vizt." 

"You Solemnly promis in y*" presence of God & this Cor* 
that you will Justly try & deliver in yo' verdict in all cases de- 
pending, that shall be brought before you during this session of 
Court according to evidence, and y" laws of this government to 
y® best of yo"" understanding."^ 

The Justices who held this Court — the first for Chester County, 
as it had recently been established, were John Simcock, Pre- 
sident, Thomas Brasey, William Clayton, Robert Wade, and 
John Boyer ; the Sheriff was Thomas Usher f the Clerk, Thomas 
Revel. The Jurors summoned were William Rawson, James 
Browne, Jeremiah Collet, William Hewes, Walter Martin, 
Nath^ Evans, Joshua Hastings, William Woodmanson, Thomas 
Cobourne, Albert Hendrickson, Joseph Richards, Edward Car- 
ter, and Thomas Vernon. 

George Thompson appeared before this Court to answer the 
charge of being married to one Merriam Short, " contrary to 
the laws of the province ;" but no one appearing against him, he 
was discharged. The officiating priest, Lawrence Carolus, did 
not fare so well. He was bound over to appear at the next 
Court for performing the marriage service for Thompson. 

At the next Court, " held at Chester for the County of Chester, 
on the 27th of the 4th month, called June,-* 1863, " William 
Penn, Esq'' Proprietory and Governor," presided. The names 
of Otto Ernest Cock, and Ralph Withers, appear among the 
Justices at this Court. Among the Grand and Petit Jurors there 
was a fair sprinkling of Swedes. 

The following singular verdict was rendered at this Court : 

1 " Strangers & foreigners," as the Swedes and others residing here are called, may 
not yet have taken the " Solemn promise" of allegiance under the recently enacted 
Naturalization law. 

2 New Castle Rec. Book A, " Old Records transcribed," p. 287, as taken from 
Book C. p. 34. 

3 For a list of the Sheriffs of Chester County till the division of the County and 
subsequently those of Delaware County, See Appendix, note D. 

* The year hereafter is to commence on the first of March, as will appear by the 
following section, from " The Great Law" enacted at the first Session of the Legis- 
lature: Be it enacted, &c., " that the days of the week, and the months of the year, 
shall be called as in Scripture, aud not by heathen names, (as are vulgarly used,; as 
the first, second and third days of the week; and first, second and third months of the 
year, &c., beginning with the day called Sunday, and the month called March." 



144 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1683. 

" The jury find for the Plaint : and give him a cow and a calf, 
the same to be delivered within 7 days or 4£ 19s. 2d. at the 
choyce of the Plaint : or the value thereof in Porke, Beefe or 
Corne in the 8th mo: next & 40s. damages & Costs of suit." 

It was "ordered by the Court that a tax for defraying the 
public charges be raysed within this county; and in order to 
the effecting the same with Justice and proportion, three of the 
magistrates of the county are to meet weekly." 

"John Ward, for sundry Felons, committed to the custody of 
the Sheriff, and made his escape with irons upon him." From 
this it may be inferred, that as yet there was no building in 
Chester that would rank as a jail. 

This Ward had robbed James Sandelandes and George Fore- 
man, whom the Court ordered to receive back 'their goods. The 
early judicial proceedings of the Province would indicate, that a 
number of professional rogues had smuggled themselves over i'~ 
some of the numerous immigrant vessels that were arriving about 
this time, or else had made their way here from other Provinces. 

The folloAving constables were selected at this Court : " For 
Chichester liberty. Will™ Hewes ; Chester liberty, Thomas Co- 
bourn ; Derby liberty, Thomas Worth ; Ammersland liberty, 
Will™ Cobb ; Concord liberty, Jn" Mendenhall." 

Besides the regular County Courts, there was established in 
each County, another tribunal invested with the power of hear- 
ing and determining matters in litigation. The persons com- 
posing it were termed "Peace Makers," and were appointed by 
the Courts. They possessed about the same power, and occupied 
the same position as arbitrators of the present day, but they 
were not appointed with reference to any particular case, and 
held periodical meetings. The Court orders them " to meet the 
first fourth day in every month. "^ 

Among the cares that engrossed the attention of William 
Penn, during his first visit to Pennsylvania, Avas the purchase of 
lands from the Indians. The boundaries mentioned in the 
numerous deeds to him from the Aborigines, are frequently un- 
certain and overlap each other; and while it cannot be doubted 
that he was careful to secure titles from the "right owners," it 
appears to have been his policy to liquidate any other claims 
that might be set up, and to take deeds from the claimants, 
rather than to engage in litigation with savages. 

One of these deeds, that gives us the Indian name of Chester 
Creek, and embraces nearly the whole County east of that stream, 
commences thus : 

^ The law authorizing the appointment of " Peace Sinkers," was passed at the 
Second Session of the Assembly. 



1683.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 145 

"We, Secane & IcQUOQUEHAN, Indian Shackamakers, and 
right owners of y'^ Lands Lying between Manaiunk als. Schulkill 
and Macopanackhan, als. Chester River, doe this 14th day of 
y* fift month, in y® year, according to English account, 1683, 
hereby grannt and sell all o"""^ Right & title in y^ s*^ Lands Lying 
between y® s** Rivers, beginning on y^ West side of Manaiunk, 
called Consohockan, & from thence by a Westerly Line to y* s** 
River Maeopanackhan, unto William Penn Proprie*''" * * * &c.^ 

The consideration is the usual quantity of wampum, blankets, 
duffils, kettles, guns, &c., but no rum, and to the deed are ap- 
pended the peculiar marks of the grantors. 

The next Court was held on the 22d of the 6th month " called 
August." A civil case of vast importance, involving the title of 
the whole Island of Tinicum, was tried at this Court. The case 
stands on the record : 

" Arnoldus Delagrange Pltff: '^ 

Otto Erns' Cock Deft: j 

The Plaintiff sues and declares as )- 
Heire Tynnicum Island & 
premises." 

It will be remembered that Mrs. Papegoya, had sold the 
Island to a Mr. De La Grange, who, it appears was the father 
of this plaintiff. He dying soon after, his widow married An- 
drew Carr. Against these parties, in the Court of Assizes of 
New York, in 1672, Mrs. Papegoya obtained a heavy verdict, 
and was shortly afterwards put in possession of the Island, 
which she had sold to Otto Ernest Cock, previous to this date. 

Abraham Man acted as attorney for the plaintiff, and John 
White for the defendant — neither of them being residents of the 
County. It was admitted that the plaintiff's father was legally 

possessed of Tinicum, but that amount of purchase 

money was paid, and that, " the Lady Armgard Prince had 
tryall and execution thereupon & was put in possession of the 
same premises, and sold the same to the Defendant." 

On behalf of the plaintiff it was set forth, " that he the said 
pltff. (who was heir to the said Island,) at the time of the said 
Tryall & Execution, was under age and in Holland, and there- 
fore could make no defence ; and further that the said Heire (this 
pltff:) was not mentioned in the said tryall ; the action being 
commenced against Andrew Carre and priscilla his wife, mis- 
taken in the execution for the mother of the pltff: whose mother's 
name was Margaretta."^ 

The parties appear to have entered into an agreement pending 

1 Penna. Archives, i. 65. 

^ In the record, the suit is against Andrew Carr and Margaret Persil his wife; in the 
execution the name of Margaret is omitted. 

10 



146 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1683. 

the trial, in accordance with which the jury rendered their ver- 
dict in favor of the plaintiff, with costs and forty shillings dama- 
ges ; "the Pltff: paying to the Deft. Thirty seven pounds & Tenne 
shillings," * * * " also delivering the Block house^ & timbers in 
the same agreement mentioned." 

The practice of acknowledging deeds in open Court, under 
Penn's government, commenced with this Court. 

At the following Court, " held on the IT"' of the 8"^ month, 
called October," 1683, the inhabitants of Providence made their 
application to the Court for a highway, leading to the town of 
Chester. It was accordingly ordered by the Court " that the 
Grand Jury doe meete on the 22d instant at Thomas Nossiters, 
there to consider the premises." This is the first time that the 
name of Providence has appeared as a division of Chester County. 
The Grand Jury " was empannelled to look out a convenient 
highway from Providence to Chester," but their report is not 
recorded. The name of Robert Eyre appears now for the first 
time as Clerk of the Court, in the place of Thomas Revel ; and 
at the following Court, held on the 14th of December, Thomas 
Withers supplies the place of Thomas Usher as Sheriff. In a 
case before this Court, in which the plaintiff suffered a non suit, 
the matter was referred by the Court to the "peace makers." 

From the circumstance, that several of Penn's letters, written 
during the winter of 1683, were dated at Chester, it is believed 
that he resided at that place nearly up to the 10th of March, 
when his first Council was assembled at Philadelphia. The mem- 
bers of the Council being now reduced to three from each county, 
those from Chester were, John Simcock, Ralph Withers and 
William Clayton. The second Assembly was convened at Phi- 
ladelphia two days afterwards, and continued its session twenty- 
two days. 

But little was done at this session specially relating to Chester 
County, except the establishment of a seal, the design of which 
was a plow. 'The first charter, which it was found impossible to 
conform with, in respect to the number of representatives, was, 
in an amended form, accepted from the Governor, " with the 
hearty thanks of the whole House." 

This year the noted " Chester Mills" were erected on Chester 
Creek, a little above the site of the present manufacturing village 
of Upland. Richard Townsend, who came over with Wm, Penn, 
in a letter written in 1727, says, " After some time I set up a 
mill on Chester Creek, which I brought ready framed from 
London ; which served for grinding corn and sawing of boards ; 
and was of great use to us." From this it might be inferred 

1 It is not certainly known where this Block-house stood, but it is probable that it 
occupied the same position as the old fort, Gottenburg. 




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1683.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 147 

that Richard Townsend was chiefly instrumental in the erection 
of these mills, which was not the case, he being only one of ten 
partners who furnished the means. 

The partnership was established by virtue of a verbal agree- 
ment in 1682, probably before the partners left England, " for 
the erection of one or more water mills, by them intended to be 
built and erected in said Province [of Pennsylvania], and in 
gears, utensils and implements, proper for such an undertaking, 
and in all such lands buildings and conveniences as might be 
necessary to accommodate the same." The whole concern was 
divided into thirty-two equal parts, of which William Penn " was 
to have and bear five parts thereof, both in profit and loss;" 
Philip Ford, 5; John Bellars, 5; Daniel Whorley, 5; Daniel 
Quare, 2 ; John Barker, 2 ; Richard Townsend, 4 ; John Bickley, 
2 ; Thomas Burberry, 1 ; and Caleb Pusey, 1. These partners 
agreed that Caleb Pusey should be agent and manager " of the 
joint concern," who accordingly, "soon after the first arrival of the 
Proprietary in the Province, obtained two warrants from him, for 
taking up lands to set the said mills upon." By virtue of these 
warrants two parcels of land — one on each side of Chester 
Creek — were surveyed for the use of the mills; the whole con- 
taining but twenty acres. " Upon or near' this land, Caleb 
Pusey, " with the advice of the said Proprietary, and such other 
of the said partners, as then were in the Province, in the year of 
our Lord 1683, did at the joint charge of all the said partners, 
erect a corn mill," &c. These facts are taken from the recital 
of a deed^ for the premises, executed in 1705, and no doubt give 
a correct account of the establishment of what may be regarded 
as the first mill erected within the borders of Delaware County, 
unless the Swede's mill stood on the western side of Cobb's 
Creek. When a saw-mill was attached to the Chester mill, is 
not known. A further account of this early improvement, with 
the disasters which befel it, will be given in the proper place, as 
we proceed. 

The peculiar population, that in three or four years was to 
occupy the whole territory now embraced within the limits of our 
County, had, before the close of 1683, gained a very permanent 
footing at four different points, viz: Chester, Marcus Hook, 
Darby and Haverford. From these points the new settlements 
rapidly diverged, and spread over the adjacent townships. At 
each of these places except Haverford the first Quaker immi- 
grants sat themselves down in the midst, or in the vicinity of a 
civilized people. The Welsh, who had in their native land 
bargained for a separate Barony of 40,000 acres, being ex- 
cluded from the city liberties, were forced, at once, to plunge 

1 Recorder's office, West Chester, Book B. i. 



148 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1684. 

into the wilderness. They first occupied Merion and Haverford 
in 1682 with a very few settlers. These townships were rapidly 
filled up by the constant influx of immigrants from Wales, where 
the spirit of persecution against the Quakers was raging at this 
period; and from these townships the Welsh settlements soon 
spread over Radnor and the chief part of Newtown, and after a 
time extended over Goshen, Tredyffrin, and Uwchlan. But three 
settlements were made in Haverford in 1682 — those of Lewis 
David, Henry Lewis, and William Howell. The number was 
largely augmented before the close of 1683. 

Nearly all the early immigrants of mature age were Friends 
from convincement, and many of them had suffered persecution. 
Under such circumstances it cannot be supposed that their 
religious meetings were suspended even during their passage, 
much less after their arrival. But we have no positive evidence 
that meetings of record were held either by the Friends of 
Darby or Haverford earlier than 1684.^ 

Although monthly meetings had alternated between Chester 
and Marcus Hook, First day meetings for worship were not held 
at the latter place till the early part of 168-3. The first appro- 
priation, by Chester Monthly Meeting, for the support of their 
own poor, was made this year. No regular burying-place ap- 
pears to have been established at Chester till 1683, when, 
after the appointment of sundry committees, and some delay, a 
suitable piece of ground was fixed upon, which was ordered "to 
be fenced about as soon as may be." The ground thus se- 
lected continues to be the burying-place of the Society to the 
present day. 

No evidence exists of a meeting for worship being held at 
Providence earlier than the commencement of 1684, and it is 
not certainly known at what particular place it was held. The 
earliest quarterly meeting was held at Chester, the 4th of the 
12th mo. (February) 1684. 

The minutes of both Haverford and Darby Meetings com- 
mence in 1684 ; the former on the 10th of the 2d mo. (April) 
and the latter on the 2d of the 5th mo. (July). There is some 
evidence that the business of a monthly meeting had been trans- 
acted at Darby a short time prior to the date of the first regular 
minute. The early meetings of Darby were held at the house 
of John Blunston, located nearly in front of the present Friends' 
meeting house in Darby, and near the mill race. 

Three particular meetings were united to form what became, 

1 A Committee was appointed in 1683, by the Chester Monthly Meeting, to invite 
the Friends of Darby Meeting to unite with them in their Monthly Meeting. This they 
appear to have done so far as to contribute to the funds of that meeting on one occa- 
sion. Some of the earliest Haverford Friends, for a time, were attached to the Phila- 
delphia Monthly Meeting. 



1684.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 149 

and was for a long time known, as " Haverford Monthly Meet- 
ing." These meetings at first were "The Schuylkill," Merion 
and Haverford ; the monthly meeting being held alternately in 
private houses at each of those places. The first monthly 
meeting was held at the house of Thomas Duckett, which was 
located on the west bank of the Schuylkill, a short distance 
above the present site of Market street bridge. 

Suitable burial-places for the dead, unfortunately, were 
among the earliest necessities of the first English settlers. Kc- 
cordingly, it is recorded, that " att our monethly meeting held 
at John Beevan's house at Haverford, the 9*'' of the 8'^ moneth 
[October] 1684, it was ordered as followeth : 

" This meeting having taken to their consideration the ne- 
cessity of a burying-place, it was ordered that Thomas Ducket 
and Barnaby Willcocks for Schoolkill, Hugh Robert and Robert 
David for Merion, George Painter and William Howell for 
Haverford, should view and set out convenient places for that 
purpose, respectively, for the meeting they belong to as afore- 
said." 

At the next monthly meeting, reports were made that burying- 
places had been laid out respectively for Haverford and Merion. 
The sites thus selected, with some enlargements, constitute the 
bui^ial-grounds attached to these meetings at the present day. 
There was more difiiculty in having the ground laid out at the 
Schuylkill ; but it was eventually effected, and its site is still 
marked by a few dilapidated grave-stones,^ that may be seen on 
either side of the street that passes under the Pennsylvania 
Railroad, west of the Schuylkill, which was laid out through it. 

This monthly meeting was attached to the Philadelphia 
Quarterly Meeting at its commencement, and continues so 
attached to this day. 

Chichester Meeting was established as a monthly meeting 
in 1684, the first monthly meeting being held at Chichester 
on the 17th of the 1st month, (March). At their fourth meeting, 
a liberal subscription was made to enable a poor man to build a 
house. 

Christopher Taylor having removed from Bucks County to 
the island of Tinicum, his age, ability, and learning, at once 
secured him the position of Presiding Justice of the Chester 
Court. The names of William Wood and John Harding also 
appear for the first time as Justices at the Court held in July, 
1684. 

This Court, " considering the necessity of defraying the 

^ The Schuylkill Meeting was not continued very long ; the burial-place in time 
became a public grave-yard, and passed out of the hands of the Society of Friends. 



150 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1684. 

charge of the Court-house^ and prison att Chester by a public 
levie, it was ordered that, according to law in that case pro- 
vided, every man possessed of lands should pay towards the 
levie after the rate of one shilling for every 100 acres within 
this county ; and every freeman should pay sixpence, being 
above sixteen years of age and not exceeding sixty ; and 
every artificer not exceeding the aforesaid age of sixty, and 
above sixteen, Is. Qd., by the pole, and every servant three- 
pence; and also non-residents, having land in this County, and 
not occupying the same, shall pay for every hundred acres after 
the rate of one shilling sixpence per hundred." 

This is the earliest notice of a Court-house contained in the 
Chester Court records. In what building did the Court sit, 
from the arrival of Governor Markham up to this time ? Is it 
not most reasonable to conclude that it was in the " House of De- 
fence," or " Country House," spoken of in the Upland Court 
Records ? This building had been finished and fitted up, 
" fitt for the Court to sittin," only about seven years previously, 
and although the Records of the Court are silent in respect to 
the building in which its sittings were held, the minutes of the 
monthly meeting show conclusively, that up to September, 1682, 
!hey had been held in an edifice that was well known as " the 
Court House at Chester." This being the case, is not the con- 
clusion almost irresistible, that up to the period of the erection 
" of the Court house and prison," for defraying the expenses of 
which a levy is now being made, that the Court, as well as the 
" First day" meetings of the Friends, was held in the House of 
Defence ? And in the absence of every other kind of evidence 
but traditi07i, is it not most reasonable to conclude that the first 
Assembly also sat in the same building ? Additional facts will 
be presented in their regular order that will corroborate these 
conclusions.^ 

The appointments by the Courts of collectors "to gather 
the assessments" made for the erection of a Court-house and 
prison, and other appointments made during this year, give a 
good idea of the progress that had then been made in the settle- 
ment of the county, and show the municipal districts into 

1 The location of the " House of Defence," as correctly made out by Edward Arm- 
strong, Esq., has been given. The evidence is conclusive that the Court-house now 
about being erected, was located on the same side of Filbert street, and a little north 
of the House of Defence. 

2 It may also be reasonably concluded, that Governor Markham and his Council 
held their sittings in the "House of Defence." The earliest mention of any building 
in Upland under the appellation of a Court-house, that has come under the notice of 
the Author, is contained in the Records of New Castle County. It will be found in 
an order from Governor Andros, in respect to taking up lands and quit-rents, dated 
October 26th, 1678, and is in these words : 

" This order to bee forthwith published and sett up at the Court houses of Upland, 
New Castle and Whoorkill in the Delaware." — Liher A. 320. 



1684.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 151 

which it had been divided. As collectors, Thomas Worth and 
Joshua Fearne were appointed for Darby ; Mons. Stacket and 
William Cobb, " for Amoseland & Calcoone Hook;" Thomas 
Usher and Jeremy Collet for Chichester ; Richard Crosby and 
Andrew Nelson for Providence ; James Kenerly and Randolph 
Vernon for "Ridley and in the woods ;" Richard Crosby and 
Edward Carter for Chester; Jonathan Hayes and James Stan- 
field for Marple; John Minall and Thomas King for Concord 
and Bethel. 

For Supervisors of the Highways, the following appointments 
were made ; " from Naaman's Creeke to Marcus Hook, alias 
Chichester, Walter Martin ; from Chichester Creeke to Chester 
Creeke, John Childe ; from Chester Creeke to Croome Creeke, 
Robert Taylor." John Hendrickson was appointed for Amose- 
land and Calcoone Hook, Michael Blunston for Darby, and for 
Marple, Thomas Person [Pearson]. 

So numerous had the live stock become that were allowed to 
range the woods promiscuously, that it became necessary for 
each farmer to have a particular mark and brand, and the 
law required that a record of these marks should be made. 
A goodly number of such records is found in the minutes 
of the Court, and is continued through many years. The 
following are given as specimens of such records made this 
year : 

" George Maris' Cattle marks, a slit in the tip of the near 
year:— his Brand Mark G. M." 

" The ear mark of John Blunston of Darby, a crop in the 
near ear and a hole in the far ear : — his Brand Mark I. B." 

At the Court held in December, 1684, " Joseph Cookson was 
presented by Robert Wade for taking a wife contrary to the 
good and wholesome laws of this Province." He was ordered 
"to finde security in tenne pounds," but appears not to have 
been troubled any further about the matter. 

The first report of "the Peace Makers" was made to the 
Court this year, though from its date, the case had been acted 
on nearly a year previously. It differs but little from an award 
by arbitrators, except that one half of the amount awarded was 
to be paid " in good and merchantable wheate and rye att the 
common market price on this river." 

The acknowledgment of deeds, as has been mentioned, was 
now made in open Court, and the practice was continued until the 
number acknowledged at a single Court became a large item of 
business. The following is a specimen from the minutes of the 
September Court of this year : 

"Arnoldus Delagrange past over a deed in open Court unto 
Christopher Taylor for the Island commonly known by the 



152 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1684. 

name of Mattinnaconk, bearing date the 2(i day of the 12th 
month.^ 1684," 
At the same time, 

" Christopher Taylor, President, did, in open Court, deliver 
over a penal bond of performance for four hundred pounds at or 
upon the 1st day of November, 1685." 

Persons charged with the higher grades of crime were not 
tried by the County Courts. The imaginary crime of Witch- 
craft was in those days placed among the most heinous ; and 
hence it was that the celebrated Pennsylvania witch trial took 
place before Governor Penn and his Council, sitting as a Supe- 
rior Court at Philadelphia. The parties, who, in that case, 
were the victims of this most stupid of all superstitions, resided 
near the mouth of Crum Creek, were in good circumstances, 
and for aught that is known to the contrary, were quite as 
respectable as their accusers. 

The following is the record of the trial copied from the pub- 
lished minutes of the Council, "held at Philadelphia y^ 27''' of 
the 12«' month, 1683." [February, 1684. J 

" Margaret Matson's Indictm* was read, and she pleads not 
Guilty, and will be tryed by the Country." 

" Lasse Cock attested Interpriter between the Prop"'' and 
the Prisoner at the Barr." 

"The Petty Jury Impanneled; their names are as followed: — 
Jno. Hasting, foreman, Albertus Hendrickson, Robt. Piles, 
Robt. Wade, Nath. Evans, Edwd. Carter, W". Hewes, Jer: 
Collet, Jno. Kinsman, Jno. Gibbons, Walter Martin, Edw*^. 
Bezar."^ 

" Henry Drystreet, attested, saith he was tould 20 years ago, 
that the Prisoner at the Barr was a Witch, and that several 
cows were bewitcht by her; also that James Saunderling's mother 
tould him that she bewitcht her cow, but afterwards said it was 
a mistake, and that her cow should doe w^ell againe, for it was 
not her cow but another Persons that should dye." 

" Charles Ashcom, attested, saith that Anthony's Wife being 
asked why she sould her cattle ; was because her mother had 
Bewitcht them, having taken the Witchcraft of Hendrick's 
Cattle, and put it on their oxen ; she myght keep but noe other 
Cattle, and also that one night the Daughter of y'' Prisoner 
called him up hastely, and when he came she sayed there was a 
great Light but just before, and an old woman with a knife in 
her hand at y** Bedd's feet, and therefore she cryed out and 
desired Jno. Symcock to take away his Calves, or Else she 
would send them to Hell." 

1 Col. Rec. i. 93-95. 

2 The jurors were all residents within the district now included in Delaware County, 



1684.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 153 

"James Clajpool attested interpritor betwixt the rrop' and 
the Prisoner." 

" The affidavid of Jno. Vanculin read, Charles Ashcom being 
a witness to it." 

" Annakey Coolin, attested, saith her husband tooke the 
Heart of a Calf that Dyed, as they thought, by Witchtcraft, 
and Boyld it, whereupon the Prisoner at y® Barr came in and 
asked them what they were doing ; they said boyling of flesh ; 
she said they had better they had Boyled the Bones, with 
several other unseemly Expressions." 

" Margaret Mattson saith that she values not Drystreet's evi- 
dence ; but if Sanderlin's mother had come, she would have an- 
swered her ; also denyeth Charles Ashcoms attestation at her 
soul, and saith, where is my daughter ; let her come and say so." 

" Annakey Cooling's attestation about the Gees, saying she 
was never out of her Conoo, and also that she never said any 
such things concerning the calve's heart. 

"Jno. Cock attested, sayth he knows nothing of the matter." 

" Tho: Baldings attestation was read, and Tho: Bracy attested, 
saith it is a true copy." 

" The prisoner denyeth all things, and saith that y^ Witnesses 
speake only by hear say." 

" After w"*" y^ Gov' gave the Jury their Charge concerning y* 
Prisoner at y® Barr." 

" The Jury went forth, and upon their Returne Brought her 
in Guilty of haveing the Comon fame of a Witch, but not Guilty 
in manner and forme as she Shee Stands Indicted." 

" Neels Matson and Antho. Neelson^ enters into Recognizance 
of fifty pounds a piece for the good behaviour of Margaret Mat- 
son for six months," 

It is to be regretted that the charge given by the Governor 
has not been preserved, as it may fairly be presumed that it was 
upon his suggestions that the jury based their very righteous, but 
rather ridiculous verdict. 

The following is a copy of the return made by the Sherifl" of 
the election held by him for Chester County in 1684, with the 
omission of the recital of his warrant, &c. : 

" I have accordingly made my Summons of the freeholders 
who hath made Choise of those persons following for the service 
afores'^ by which I thus make my return 

for the provencial Concel 
william wade [Wood] in y^ room of Ralph withers 
william Claiton for one year 

for Assembly John Blunston georg maries Joshua Hasting, 
Robert wade Henry matukes Thomas usher 

1 Neels Matson was the husband and Anthony Neelson the son-in-law of the de- 
fendant. See Biographical Sketches in this volume. 



^M HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1685. 

" I Heare Declare that they was Lafully Chosen and may freely 
Appear to make up an Assembly according to Charter in witness 
whereunto I sett my hand and scale the 10*^ 3°"" 1684. 

"Th. Withers." 

Having established a Provincial Court, a Commission for the 
sale and transfer of lands, and having also conferred the Execu- 
tive power of the Province upon the Council, with Thomas Lloyd 
as its President, Governor Penn sailed for England, on the 12th 
of the 6th month (August) 1684, very much to the regret of 
many of the inhabitants, and arrived in England early in Octo- 
ber. His diflBculty with Lord Baltimore was the cause of his 
early return to his native country. 

On the 6th of February following (1685), King Charles the 
Second died, and was succeeded by his brother James, the Duke 
of York and Albany, who, on the same day, was proclaimed 
King under the title of James IL This information was com- 
municated by William Penn in a letter to Thomas Lloyd, who on 
the 11th of May laid the same before the Council. On the day 
following a formal proclamation was published by that body. 

As yet, the boundary line between Chester and Philadelphia 
Counties had not been permanently established. This matter 
was accomplished by the following Resolution of the Council, 
adopted on the 1st of May, 1685, in pursuance of certain verbal 
directions left by the Proprietary. 

"Whereas, the Governor in presence of John Symcock and 
W™ Wood, was pleased to say & Grant That y" bounds of the 
Countys of Chester & Philadelphia should be as followed, viz : 

" That the bounds should begin at the Mill Creek and slopeing 
to y^ Welsh Township, and thence to Schoolekill, &c. in obedi- 
ence thereto and confirmation thereof. 

" The Councill having seriously Weyed & Considered the 
same, have & doe hereby Agree and order that y^ bounds betwixt 
the said Countys shall be thus ; That is to say : 

" The County of Chester to begin at y** Mouth or Entrance of 
Bough Creek, upon Delaware River, being the Upper end of 
Tenecum Island, and soe up that Creek, deviding the said Island 
from y^ Land of Andros Boone & company ; from thence along 
the several courses thereof to a Large Creeke Called Mill Creek ; 
from thence up the several courses of the said creek to a W: S: 
W: Line, which Line devided the Liberty Lands of Philadelphia 
from Severall Tracts of Land belonging to the Welsh & other 
Inhabitance ; and from thence E: N: E: by a line of Marked 
Trees, 120 perches more or less ; from thence N: N: W: by the 
harford [Haverford] Township 1000 perches more or less : from 
thence E: N: E: by y^ Land belonging to Jno: Humphreis 110 



1685.] HISTOEY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 15^ 

perches more or less ; from thence N: N: W: by y^ Land of Jno: 
Ekley, 880 perches more or less ; from Thence Continuing the 
y* said Course to the Scoolkill River, w""" s** Scoolkill River 
afterwards to be the natural bounds."^ 

This line continues to be the Eastern boundary of Delaware 
County to the North line of Haverford. The resolution of the 
Council makes the next course run easterly instead of westerly, 
and is probably a mistake, as Radnor township never extended 
further easterly than it now does. 

In consequence of Christopher Taylor removing from Bucks 
County to Tinicum, there w^ere four members of the Council from 
Chester County, viz : Christopher Taylor, John Simcock, Wil- 
liam Wood and Nicholas Newlin. 

Charles Ashcom had held the office of Deputy Surveyor for 
Chester County under the Surveyor-General, Thomas Holme, 
but the complaints against him were so numerous, and a misun- 
derstanding having arisen between him and Holme, the Council 
were obliged to issue an order prohibiting him from surveying 
any more lands in Chester County. 

At a meeting of the Council, held on the 22d of the 7th 
month (September), 1685, information was received from Capt. 
Lasse Cock that the Indians were willing to dispose of their 
lands between Upland and Appoquinomy. Thomas Holme, 
John Simcock, and the Secretary (William Markham), or any 
two of them, were accordingly deputed to make the purchase. 
The result was a deed^ from about a dozen Indian Kings and 
Sachemakers, with unpronounceable names, executed on the 2d 
of October, for " all the lands from Quing Quingus, called Duck 
creek, unto Upland called Chester creek, all along by the west 
side of the Delaware river and So betweene the Said Creeks 
Backwards as far as a man can ride in two days with a horse." 
The consideration did not vary much from what was usual in 
such cases, except that it included 40 Tomahawks. This grant, 
with the one that has already been noticed, extinguished the 
Indian title to the whole of Delaware County. 

Notwithstanding these sales of their lands, the Indians 
had no idea of yielding up the possession before they were re- 
quired for actual occupation and culture by the whites. They 
roamed through the forest as freely as ever, and were, some- 
times, rather troublesome to the border settlers. This year 
" the Complaint of y^ friends. Inhabitants of Concord and 
Hertford [Haverford] against the Indians, for y^ Rapine and 
Destructions of their Hoggs," was laid before the Council. 
Other inhabitants of the Welsh Tract, besides those of Haver- 

1 Col. Rec. i. 126. 2 Penna. Archives, i. 95. 



i56 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1685. 

ford, joined in the Complaint ; but what action was taken by the 
Council to abate the evil, further than to send for " y'^ respective 
Indian Kings, with all. speed," to appear before them, is not 
known. 

fc In the proceedings of the Chester Court for this year, several 
orders are made in respect to the New Court House and prison. 
The collectors of the levy for their erection are to " be consi- 
dered, for their time and paines, twelve pence in the pound;" 
Joseph Humphrey and Thomas Norberry are appointed collectors 
of the levy for Newtown, which now makes its first appearance 
as a township ; Darby township is to pay Lassie Dalbo, or his 
assigns, " seven pounds two shillings & six pence out of the 
assessment for the court house & prison, if they see they can 
soe doe with safety;" and William Dalbo, " so much as he can 
make appear to be due for his work done on the Court House 
and prison," out of the levies raised for that purpose in said 
to"wnship. Nor was the building to be exclusively occupied for 
judicial purposes and the incarceration of criminals. Its loca- 
tion, convenient to Chester Creek, gave it commercial advan- 
tages that were not overlooked in its construction. Hence it 
was ordered by the Court, " that all people that shall make use 
of the Court house for Sellerage of any Goods, shall for every 
Tonne pay after the rate of three shillings four pence a Tonne, 
for any time not exceeding a week ; and for what time it shall 
continue afterwards, halfe soe much."^ 

There was another levy ordered this year, partly, no doubt, 
on account of the New Court-house and prison. This assess- 
ment imposed a tax of 2s. 6d. per 100 acres on lands belonging 
to residents, and 3s. on that of non-residents ; on free male 
inhabitants, from 16 years of age to 60, a poll tax of 2s. 6d., 
and upon servants Is. 3d. The collectors were authorized to 
receive this tax in good merchantable Indian Corn at the rate of 
2s. 8d. per bushel. Wheat at 4s. 6d., and Rye at 3s. 6d. Before 
the collection was made these prices were raised to 5s. per bushel 
for wheat, 4s. for rye, and 3s. for corn. 

A practice had now become general for constables, and some- 
times for supervisors, at the expiration of their official terms, to 
come into Court, report '■'■ all was well,'' and receive their dis- 
charge. The following is given as a specimen of the usual 
minute made in such cases : 

" Samuel Bradshaw, Constable for the last year for Darby, 
made his returne, '■all was well,' whereupon Edmund Cartelidge 
was elected to serve and attested for the ensuing year." 

1 This court-house and prison was the first building specially erected in Chester for 
the administration of justice. It way doubtless built of logs, and not very well 
adapted to the purposes for which it was erected. 



1685.] HISTOKY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, 157- 

Jeremy Collett held the office of Sheriff this year. Robert 
Eyre was continued as Clerk. The office of "peace makers" 
was held by Caleb Pusey, Randall Vernon and Walter Faucit. 
Their sittings had become such a regular business that it was 
known as " iAe monthly Court.' ^ 

Heretofore the usual punishment inflicted by the Court for 
criminal offences, had been the imposition of a fine ; imprison- 
ment was out of the question, for want of a jail. This desidera- 
tum being now supplied, a reasonable hope might have been en- 
tertained that our Quaker Justices would have been satisfied 
with the incarceration of the violators of the law. But impri- 
sonment was an expensive mode of punishment that the early 
settlers, most of whom were in straitened circumstances, could 
not have borne. Hence the law of necessity prevailed over the 
pleadings of humanity ; and we find our County Court, for the 
first time, resorting to Corporal punishment, just as they had 
been provided with the means of carrying into effect the more 
mild and humane sentence of imprisonment. The first sentence, 
directing the infliction of Corporal punishment, was passed by 
the February Court of this year, and what is remarkable, the 
place of its execution was not at the seat of justice.^ With the 
omission of the name, the following is the sentence pronounced: 

" , being convicted of stealing money out of 

the house of William Browne, was ordered twelve stripes on his 
bear backe, well laide on att the Common Whipping post at 
Chichester,^ the 4th Instant, between the 10th and llth hours in 
the morning." 

In the next case both modes of punishment are resorted to, 
being the first sentence of imprisonment : 

" , being lawfully convicted for abusing and 

menacing the magistracy of this county, was ordered twenty-one 
lashes att the publick whipping post on his beare backe, well 
laid on, and 14 days imprisonment at hard labour in the house of 
Correction." 

This sentence very clearly illustrates the ideas prevalent at 
this time, of the necessity that existed for maintaining the inde- 
pendence and dignity of the judiciary. Evidence of this feeling 
pervades the Court records, from those of the Upland Court, for 
more than half a century. At the same time another person 
" was fined, for his contempt of the Court, 40s., in not appear- 
ing when lawfully summoned, and for abusing the officers of the 
Court." 

1 It appears probable that means were provided in several places within the county 
for the infliction of corporal punishment, authorized to be inflicted by a magistrate. 
As late as 1732 a pair of stocks were authorized to be built in Lower Darby. (See 
Upper Darby Township Book.) 



158 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1686. 

At the October Court, of this year, it was " ordered that the 
township of Chichester extend its bounds as formerly laid out by 
Charles Ashcom, untill further order." 

A sufficient number of Welsh Friends had now made settle- 
ments in Radnor to establish an independent meeting for wor- 
ship in that township, the name of David Meridith, being the 
first that appears in the Haverford Records as belonging to that 
particular meeting. The early meetings of Radnor were held 
at the houses of John Jerman and John Evans ; the first mar- 
riage in Radnor being solemnized at the dwelling of the latter 
on the 2d of the 3d month, (May,) 1686, between Richard Ormes, 
of Philadelphia, and Mary Tyder, of Radnor. Notwithstanding 
the line had been run between Philadelphia and Chester Counties, 
leaving Haverford and Radnor in the latter, the Welsh settlers 
of those townships had no idea of being separated from their 
Welsh friends of Merion, and still insisted on being included 
within the limits of Philadelphia County. Being attached to 
the Quarterly Meeting of Philadelphia, the Haverford Monthly 
Meeting contributed towards the erection of the Centre Square 
meeting-house, now being erected. The amounts subscribed by 
the several meetings will indicate the extent of the settlements 
at this time in the vicinity of each : 

Radnor contributed 

Haverford " - - 

Merion " 

From the south-western corner of the County the settlements 
had extended up into the country as far as Birmingham, at the 
commencement of this year. At the close of last year (1685) 
James Browne conveyed two acres of land to trustees for the 
use " of the people of God called Quakers in the township of 
Chichester." On this land, without much delay, it was agreed 
to build a meeting-house, and some time afterwards, to fence in 
a grave-yard. This is the site of the present Chichester meeting- 
house and burial-ground. The first subscription amounted to 
X36 4s., and was contributed by twenty-six persons. Up to this 
time the monthly meetings appear to have been held at Marcus 
Hook, (Chichester,) but in October, 1686, a monthly meeting, 
for the first time, was held at Concord, and for some years after- 
wards, the place of holding it was varied, but it was generally at 
private houses — at Edward Bezer's, in Bethel ; at William 
Brainton's, (Brinton's,) in Birmingham ; at John Kinsman's, in 
Chichester ; at Robert Piles', in Bethel ; at John Harding's, in 
Chichester, &c. 

John Symcock was re-elected a member of Council from 
Chester County for three years, and Francis Harrison to serve 



£1 


7s. 6d. 


6 





6 


5 



1686.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 159 

in the place of William Wood, now deceased. David Lloyd, 
who appears to have just arrived in the country, presented to 
the Council his Commission from the Governor, as Attorney- 
General of the Province, dated the 2ith of the 2d month 
(April,) 1686, and was duly qualified into office. 

Our staid settlers were rarely much affected by events that 
were transpiring in England, but the affair of the Duke of Mon- 
mouth was too serious a matter to pass entirely unnoticed. The 
following order of the Court is evidence that the Justices were 
willing, at least, to make a show of their loyalty after the unfor- 
tunate result of the Duke's foray into England was known. 

" Ordered that the Sheriff take into custody the body of David 
Lewis upon suspition of Treason, as also the body of Robert 
Cloud for concealing the same, for that he the said Robert Cloud 
being attested before this Court, declared that upon the 3'^'' day 
of the weeke before Christmas last att the house of George Fore- 
man, the said David Lewis did declare in his hearing that he 
was accused for being concerned with the Duke of Monmouth in 
the West Country." They were both bound over to appear at 
the next Provincial Court. 

A spirit of improvement now begins to show itself. Orders 
are issued by the Court for the erection of two bridges — one " to 
Albertus Hendrickson, Supervisor of the Highways belonging to 
Chester, to forthwith erect a horse bridge in such a place as the 
grand jury have already laid it out" — the other "to Bartholo- 
mew Coppeck Supervisor of the Highways for Croome Creek, to 
forthwith erect a bridge in the Kings road over said Croome 
Creek." 

Besides determining upon the sites of the aforesaid two bridges, 
the Grand Jury laid out and made " return of a Highway from 
Bethel to Chichester (Marcus Hook) sixty foote broad." The 
return is given as a specimen of the manner in which roads were 
laid out in these very early times. 

" Beginning at the side of Concord toward the river, on the 
street or Highway of Concord, first through the land of John 
Gibbons, his house on the right side — then through the land of 
Robert Southry late deceased, his house on the left side ; thence 
through Robert Pile's land, his house on the right hand — then 
through Joseph Bushell's land, his house on the left hand — Then 
through Francis Smith's land — Then through Thomas Garrett's 
land, his house on the right hand — Thence through Francis 
Harrison's and Jacob Chandler's land down the point to a small 
branch of Naaman's Creek — Thence up the hill to the first in- 
closed field of Francis Harrison, the field on the left hand ; then 
through James Brown's land, thence down to another branch of 
of Naaman's Creek, through Walter Marten's land up to the 



160 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1686. 

point, his house on the right hand — Thence through Jeremy 
Collets land bearing toward the left hand, his house standing 
on the left hand — frona thence to the lands of Chichester, be- 
ginning att the head of a small swamp, on the left hand — thence 
downe Crosse the King's road or Highway towards the foot of 
the Hill, to a lyne tree marked with 5 notches, — thence downe 
to the river's side, the lyne between James Brown & William 
Clayton Jr." 

At the following Court, the inhabitants of Bethel and Con- 
cord presented a paper signifying "their good-liking of the road 
lately laid out by the jury to Chichester." Up to the present 
time a road has been continued over nearly the same ground. 

Fence viewers, two for each township or district, are for the 
first time appointed this year. Also a lawyer, for the first time, 
appears in a criminal case, and "pleads as attorney to the King." 
This officer was Charles Pickering, who no doubt held his ap- 
pointment under David Lloyd, who had been recently commis- 
sioned Attorney General. This first legal effort on behalf of the 
Crown, though not successful in establishing the guilt of the 
prisoner, did not fail to mystify the case sufficiently to induce the 
jury to couple with their verdict of acquittal, that he was '•'•guilty 
of suspicious circumstances in relation to the indictment ;'^ upon 
which he was bound over to appear at the next Court. 

The very recently erected Court-house and prison, it may be 
judged, from the following minute in respect to the sale of them, 
did not give satisfaction: 

" The Court, in behalf of the county, have bargained and sold 
unto Robert Wade, his heirs and assigns, the court house and 
prison att Chester; upon consideration whereof the said Wade 
doe oblige himself, his heirs Executors & assigns to defray all 
charges which are already due from the first erecting said houses ; 
provided, that from the day of the date hereof to the full end and 
term of two years and a half, the said Robert Wade shall have 
liberty to reimburst what moneys he have alread received of the 
levie raised in this county towards the purchase and building of 
said houses. Upon all which this Court engage to make the said 
Wade a firm and sure title to said houses and to give him lawful 
& quiet possession." At the same time, "James Saunderlaine 
for himself his heirs and assigns doe promise this Court a Con- 
venient peese of Land in the town of Chester, where they may 
erect a Court house and Prison, and to make a firm title to the 
same, to the proper use and behoof of this County." 

The first Court, under the name of a Court of Equity for 
Chester County, was held this year. It was held by the Justices 
of the Common Pleas, under the title of Commissioners, as will 
be seen by the following extract from the Record: — 



1687.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 161 

" Att a Court of Equity held att Chester the 5^^ day in the 
1«* week of the 10''^ month 1686. 

" Commissioners present : — John Blunstone, John Simcocke, 
George Maris, Bartholomew Coppock, Samuel Levis, Robert 
Wade, Robert Pile. — Robert Eyre Clerk." 

Only two causes were tried. 

The municipal divisions of the settled parts of the County had 
not as yet been definitely fixed, and some appear to have been 
recognized by the Court that never had any established boun- 
dary, and only a very temporary existence. Up to the close of 
1686, officers had been appointed for the following places : Ches- 
ter, Chichester, Providence, Amosland, Darby, Bethel, Concord, 
Springfield, Marple, Newtown, Birmingham, Northby, and Gilead. 

Chichester included both townships of that name, and so of 
Providence and Darby — Calcon Hook having been added to the 
latter township this year. Northby included the whole or part 
of Aston, and Gilead was probably in Edgmont. During the 
following year, 1687, Ridley, Middletown, Aston, Thornbury,^ 
and Edgmont are recognized by the Court as townships, and 
supplied by appointment with one or more officers. 

Grand Juries, which, for two or three years after the establish- 
ment of Penn's government, were hardly regarded as a necessity 
in the administration of justice, had now assumed an importance 
scarcely equaled by the Court itself. Both public wants and 
the neglect of official duties were promptly brought to the notice 
of the Court, while evil doers could scarcely hope to escape their 
scrutinizing vigilance. But holding office during the whole year, 
this vigilance, after a time, degenerated, in each Grand Juror, 
into a kind of Quaker Puritanical surveillance, and subjected to 
the exposure of judicial investigation every slight departure from 
strict moral rectitude. Many matters were presented that had 
better been rectified by the kind offices of the friends of the 
party ; or from the evils that resulted from their exposure, been 
allowed to pass into oblivion unnoticed. If there was anything 
to make the practice tolerable, it was the impartiality with which 
it was exercised ; the Justices of the Court and even Grand 
Jurors themselves were sometimes the subjects of these present- 
ments. 

At the first Court in this year the township of Chester was 
presented " for not finding and making a foot Bridge over the 
mill creek (Chester Creek), in the Kings Highway hard by 
William Woodmancies." 

At the same C,ourt, Caleb Pusey " Petitioned against Thomas 
Coborne for setting a water mill above him upon Upland Creek." 

^ The whole of the townships of Thornbury and Birmingham, as at first laid out, 
will be included in our narrative up to the division of the County in 1789. 
11 



162 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1687. 

But the Court " considering the premises, and finding it to be 
for the common good, dispenseth therewith." The propriety of 
erecting this mill was not wholly left to the decision of our County 
Court. The petition of " about three score people inhabitants of 
Chester County," was presented to the Provincial Council, "set- 
ting forth the great want of a Mill in their parts, and requesting 
a permission for Thomas Coebourne to goe forward with y*^ build- 
ing, and setting up his mill on Chester Creek." Whereupon the 
Council express a willingness " to give incouragement to y*^ Pro- 
cedure of Thomas Cobourne in the finishing of his mill that he is 
now about, for y^ urgent necessity of y^ contrey, Reserving to 
y'' Gov"" his Proprietary Ship." This mill, it is supposed, occu- 
pied the site of what is now "Button's Mill."^ 

At the June Court, the want of a bridge over Chester Creek, 
on the King's road, is again presented by the Grand Jury ; the 
same want, for Ridley and Crum Creeks, is also presented. Quite 
a number of persons were presented and fined for being drunk, 
and some for suflFering others to be drunk in their houses ; for 
selling liquor to the Indians, or for keeping an Ordinary without 
license. In one "liquor trial," the terms "PmwcA and Tife" 
are used by a witness as names for drinks then in use. Drunken- 
ness appears to have been a growing evil, and, as at the present 
day, much of the time of the Court was occupied with cases con- 
nected with the illegal sale or immoderate use of liquor. The 
following is among the presentments of the Grand Jury this 
year: — 

" The Grand Jury doe also present Anne Neales,^ Widow, for 
keeping and harbouring doggs that worries and kills her neigh- 
bours Hoggs ; as alsoe for deteining in her service one Indian 

1 Caleb Pusey made a further eiFort to prevent the erection of this rival mill through 
the instrumentality of the Commissioners of Property. The following singular man- 
date, issued by William Markham and Jno. Goodson, members of the board (which 
Cobourne disregarded), will explain the whole matter: — 

" To Thos. Cobourne, of Chester County." 

" Whereas we the Proprietary Deputies (upon complaint made to us by Caleb Pusey 
that thou wast about to set up a mill in Chester Co. to the great damage of the mill 
there under the charge of the s'^ Caleb pusey which hath been of vast charge to the 
owners thereof &, but of little profits (yet) toward defrays any part thereof,) did on the 
22^ Inst, obligingly send to thee to give thee notice thereof and to desire thou wouldst, 
ye 29tii following answer the si^ complaint before us in the Council Room at Phil, but 
instead thereof thou sent a letter of the 26"^ inst. by w''^ we perceive thou dost not 
only contemn the proprietarys authority <fc endeavour to subvert his dominion over all 
the water and soile within this his province of Pecns^ as he is chief prop? thereof, but 
likewise intended to persist in the builds the mill afores<* to the damage of the other 
mill and contempt of the proprietary ship." 

" We therefore in the propyl name will and require thee to desist from building the 
s'' mill (with' positive orders from the propy for the same) or any way hinder the true 
course of the water of the s"* Cr or any part thereof by draws it out of its own proper 
channel or stop or any other way molest the same upon thy pefil. — Giv° &c. 30"' 5 mo. 
1687." Minutes of Property Book G. p. 6. Harrishurg. — The closing paragraph was 
ordered to be read to Thomas Cobourn, and then " to be nailed up at the mill he is 
building." 

^ She was the widow of Neals Laerson. 



1687.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 163 

boy Chato, who with the said dogg, have been f^und to worry & 
kill the neighbours hogs as aforesaid." Anne was fined 10s., 
although she denied the ownership of the vicious dog ; and An- 
drew Friend^ became bound " to the King and Governor in 20X 
for the Indian boy's Cato's good [behaviour] towards all the 
Kings Leidge people." 

The rapid spread of population over the whole extent of terri- 
tory now included within our County, created a necessity for 
highways. Hence we find the Grand Jury much engaged in 
this and the following year in laying out roads. A road was 
laid out from Birmingham to Concord, from thence to the bridge 
near Chester mill, and from thence to Chester. This road 
passed "the Hamlet of Bethell." Another road was laid out, 
" from Edgmont to the Kings High way in Chester, being a sixty 
foote road;" another "from Newtown, Marple & Springfield to 
the landing at Amosland," and also one from Darby to Haver- 
ford. This last road was laid out "by the Grand Jury and 
other neighbours^" under an order from the Court "that the 
township of Darby finde out a convenient High way from thence 
to the township of Hartford." 

Neither was the Provincial Council neglectful in providing our 
early settlers with highways. " Upon y^ Reading y** petition of 
y^ Inhabitants of Radnor, Complayning y' part of y® road y'' 
leades to the ferry of Philadelphia is fenced in, & more likely to 
be, it was Ord'"' y* John Bevan, Henry Lewis, David Meridith, 
John Evans, Barnabas Wilcox & Tho. Ducket, meet within four- 
teen days, to view or agree upon as conveniently as may be, a 
Road from y'^ Place aforesaid to j" ferry, and y** Like Conve- 
nient road from Darby to y^ ferry aforesaid, by y'^ said Barnabas 
Willcox, Tho. Ducket, with John Blunston & Joshua fearne, by 
y'^ time aforesaid, and to return y® same &c." 

The early records that have been examined in the preparation 
of this work, establish the fact that the wolves congregated very 
much in the vicinity of the settlements — that they were more 
numerous in the neighborhood of the Delaware after considerable 
settlements had been made, than when the country was first 
visited by the Dutch and Swedes. This is accounted for by the 
introduction of domestic animals, which furnished an easy prey 
for these voracious creatures. Their depredations had become 
so alarming, that this year it became necessary to order a levy 
for their destruction, as well as "other hurtful vermine." 

The rate of this levy was one shilling per 100 acres upon 
occupied, and eighteen pence upon unoccupied lands, and a poll 
tax of one shilling upon freemen between the ages of 16 years 
and 60, and sixpence upon servants of the same age. 

1 Andrew Friend was the eldest son of Neals Learson by his wife Anne. 



164 HISTOKY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1687. 

The Court, from time to time, has transacted business proper 
for an Orphans' Court, but the first Court under that name was 
held "att Chester on the 3"^*^ daj, in the 1'' weeke, of the 8*^ 
month [October] 1687." 

John Bristow was this year elected to the Provincial Council 
from Chester County, in the room of Francis Harrison. The 
Executive power of the provincial government was now vested 
in five Commissioners of State, any three of whom could act as 
deputy or Lieutenant Governor. The first to act in this capa- 
city were Thomas Lloyd, Robert Turner, Arthur Cook, John 
Simcock and John Eckley.^ 

A history of Delaware County would be incomplete without 
some account of what, in ancient times, was familiarly known as 
" The Welsh Tract." This intended Barony had its origin in 
the desire of the Welsh purchasers of Pennsylvania lands to be 
seated together, and in a promise exacted from Penn before 
leaving Wales, that this desire should be gratified. The survey 
of the Welsh Tract was authorized by the following Warrant 
from the Proprietary : 

" Whereas divers considerable persons among y® Welsh Friends 
have requested me y* all y" Lands Purchased of me by those of 
North Wales and South Wales, together with y*" adjacent coun- 
ties to y", as Haverfordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire, about 
fourty thousand acres, may be lay** out contiguously as one 
Barony^ alledging y* y^ number allready come and suddenly to 
come, are such as will be capable of planting y** same much w'4n 
y** proportion allowed by y** custom of y** country, & so not lye 
in large and useless vacancies. And because I am inclined and 
determined to agree and favour y™ w*** any reasonable Conve- 
niency & priviledge : I do hereby charge thee & strictly require 
thee to lay out y*^ s'^ tract of Land in as uniform a manner, as 
conveniently may be, upon y^ West side of Skoolkill river, run- 
ning three miles upon y^ same, & two miles backward, & then 
extend y* parallell w''' y^ river six miles and to run westwardly 
so far as till y'^ s*^ quantity of land be Compleately surveyed 
unto y"".— Given at Pennsbury, y« 13* 1^' mo. 1684."^ 

Will: Penn." 

" To Tho: Holmes, Surveyor-General." 

In pursuance of this Warrant, the Surveyor-General, on the 
4th of the 2d month (April), 1684, issued an order to his 
deputy, David Powell, and after reciting it he directs him " to 
survey and sett out unto the said purchasers the said quantity 

1 It appears that Nicholas Moore and James Claypool were at first appointed two 
of these Commissioners. See Janney's Life of Penn, 277 ; Proud, i. 377. They nev*r 
acted. 

^ Surveyor-Greneral's office, Harrisburg. 



1687.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 165 

of land, there, in manner as before expressed, and in method of 
townshipps lately appointed by the Governor att five thousand 
acres for a townshipp and to be directed (for placing the villages 
of each Township and division of the purchasors) by Thomas 
Lloyd Master of the Rolls who is principally concerned therein, 
unto whose care and prudence is recommended the ordering and 
managing of this aifair to the content and satisfaction of the 
said purchasors and make me a true return of the original field 
work and protracted figures, as well as the distinct quantity of 
each purchasor, &c." 

The survey was probably made before the end of 1684. Soon 
after, encroachments were made by others within its limits, and 
particularly by Charles Ashchom, a very troublesome Deputy 
Surveyor. In consequence thereof the Welsh inhabitants peti- 
tioned to the Proprietary's deputies against these intrusions, 
who after they had " well weighed the mater, truly considered 
the case, and rightly understanding the Governors intention in 
granting the warrant," issued their mandate on the 25th day of 
the 5th month (July), 1687, forbidding such intrusions, and 
making void what had been done within the prescribed limits, 
which are given as follows : — " Beginning att the Schoolkill, 
thence running W. S. W. by the City liberties 2256 perches to 
Darby Creek. Thence following up the several courses thereof 
to New Towne Line, Thence up the said line N. N. W. 448 
perches, Thence S. S. W. and by W. by New Towne, 988 
perches, to a corner post by Crumb Creek, Thence down the 
several courses thereof 460 perches. Thence W. and by S. by a 
line of trees 1920 perches. Thence E. and by N. by a line of trees, 
3040 perches. Thence E. and by S. 1120 perches, Thence S. S. E. 
256 perches, Thence E. N. E. 640 perches. Thence S. S. E. 1204 
perches. Thence E. N. E. 668 perches to the Schoolkill, Thence 
down the several courses thereof to the place of beginning." — 
The only draft of the Welsh tract that has been found in the 
Surveyor-General's office does not entirely agree with this survey. 

The Welsh settlers not only contemplated having their set- 
tlements together, but expected to eonstitute one municipal 
district, in order that they might manage their affairs in their 
own way. They certainly had grounds for this expectation ; 
and consequently when the division line wa« run between Phila- 
delphia and Chester Counties, through the Welsh tract, and 
separating the Welsh settlements of Radnor and Haverford 
from those of Merion, it gave rise to much dissatisfaction, which 
will be noticed hereafter. 

The Monthly Meeting of Chester was, this year, removed to 
the house of Walter Faucet of Ridley, who had been recently 
authorized by the Council to keep an ordinary. It would seem 



166 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1688. 

strange at this day to hold a religious meeting at a public house, 
but at that time and under the circumstances there was a real 
necessity for it. A number of the persons who attended this 
meeting resided at the distance of ten miles. Entertainment 
for themselves and horses was necessary, but from their numbers, 
to receive it without compensation, would have been oppressive. 

The settlements about Darby increased very rapidly, and the 
settlers being all Quakers, it became inconvenient to hold their 
meetings any longer at a private house. This year John Blun- 
ston, at whose house the meetings had been held, acknowledged 
a deed in open Court " for one acre of land in the township of 
Darby, to build a meeting-house thereon, to the use of the said 
township for ever, to exercise the true worship of God therein." 
The meeting-house was erected during the following year (1688). 
Its site was doubtless on the hill within the grounds now occu- 
pied as a graveyard. The minutes are silent as to the character 
of the structure, except one, which records an agreement to 
have it "lined within." It was doubtless built of logs. The 
first marriage accomplished within it, was that of John Mar- 
shall to Sarah Smith, in February, 1689. Though built in 
1688, it was not finished till the next year. At a monthly 
meeting held in October, 1689, it was " ordered that all be- 
longing to y*" meeting, shall come every one a day, to worke at 
y® meeting house, and that four come a day till all the work be 
done." 

In 1687 it was agreed by the Chester Monthly Meeting, 
" that Bartholmew Coppock, James Kennerly, Randal Vernon, 
and Caleb Pusey, do agree and contract with such workmen or 
men, as they shall think fit, to build a meeting house at Chester 
21 foot square and 10 foot high in the walls." 

On the first of March, 1688, Urin Keen conveyed, in trust, 
to John Simcox, Thomas Brasey, John Bristow, Caleb Pusey, 
Randal Vernon, Thomas Vernon, Joshua Hastings, Mordecai 
Haddock, Thomas Martin, Richard Few, Walter Fauset, and 
Edward Carter, a lot in Chester, "beginning at said Urin's lot 
or Carding, and so running, 60 foot along and fronting the 
street towards the prison house, thence down the loAver edge in 
Chester Creek — thence along the creek 60 foot — thence to the 
place of beginning ****** to the use and behoof of the 
said Chester — the people of God called Quakers & their suc- 
cessors forever." It might be inferred that a new meeting- 
house was built about this time, and upon the lot of ground thus 
conveyed. It will be seen, however, as we proceed, that the 
erection of the meeting-house was postponed for some time. 

The evil resulting from the use of intoxicating drinks, being 
most striking among the Indians, the sale of it to them first 



1688.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 167 

claimed the attention of Friends. A strong testimony against 
the practice, was about this time received from the yearly meet- 
ing. The approval of this paper was attested by the signatures 
of the principal male members of the Chester Monthly Meeting 
to the number of seventy-six. This array of witnesses does not 
only show the magnitude of the evil as it existed among them, 
but it gives some idea of the extent to which the settlements had 
progressed at this early period. Seventeen persons give their 
approval of the same testimony on behalf of Chichester and 
Concord Monthly Meeting. 

A portion of the minutes of Haverford Meeting, at about this 
period, being lost, the date of the erection of the first meeting- 
house at that place cannot be precisely ascertained. There are 
however undoubted facts to show that it was erected in 1688 or 
1689. The first marriage solemnized at " Haverford Meeting 
HoiLse^'" was that of Lewis David to Florence Jones, at a meet- 
ing held 1st mo. (March) 20th, 1690. 

The Justices of the Court were in the practice of holding 
what they termed "Petty Sessions," at other places than the 
seat of justice. Thus in the proceedings of the regular sessions, 
it is recorded that " Richard Buffington was called to the bar to 
answer his contempt of an order of Petty Sessions, held on the 
27*^ of the 10**^ month last at George Foremans' — Remitted, 
paying his fees." George Foreman lived at Marcus Hook. 

It was ordered by the court, " that Upper and Nether Provi- 
dence and Ridley, doe for this time repair the Bridge in the 
King's road near Walter Fawsetts', upon Croome Creeke." 
The King's road, running from Philadelphia to the lower 
Counties, was located higher up than at present. It crossed 
Ridley Creek near Shoemakerville, and Chester Creek above 
Upland. It was laid out, (if laid out at all,) so as to head the 
tide in the several creeks.^ Providence has heretofore constituted 
but one township. 

On the 2nd of the 8th month, the Grand Jury report that 
they " doe lay out a street and a landing upon the creek to the 
corner soe far as over against the North West Corner of the 
court house fifty foote in breadth and from thence up to the 
said Chester towne for a street thirty foote in Breadthe." 

One of the presentments of the Grand Jury was 

of Concord " for travelling on the first day of the week, 

being the 21^' of the 8*^ month in the year 1688, with a yoke 
of oxen and a wayne, and a horse or mare before them." 

They likewise presented "the road between George Willards 
fence and Jonathan Hayes for being not passable ; likewise the 
mill way to Darhy Creek, to be cut both in the township of 

1 See map of early settlements. 



168 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1688. 

Marple." This refers to the earliest erected mill on Cobb's 
Creek, known as " Haverford Mill." 

The Grand Jury of this year fully maintain the character of 
that tribunal in these times, for vigilance and diligence. Be- 
sides what has been mentioned, and a variety of other present- 
ments, all the roads formerly laid out were reviewed by them, 
without being more definitely located, or having their routes 
materially changed. A new road was also laid out from Thorn- 
bury to Middletown. 

Notwithstanding the kind feelings that had been cultivated 
between the natives and the English settlers, the latter were not 
entirely free from apprehensions of danger. This is shown by 
a great alarm that prevailed this year, which was caused by two 
Indian women of New Jersey, communicating to an old Butch 
inhabitant near Chester, the report of an intended insurrection 
of the Indians, which was to happen on the next fourth day of 
the week. Several influential Friends, being sensible that no 
reasonable cause for such an attack could exist, endeavored to 
appease the people. But the apprehension of danger, as is 
usual, increased the evidence of its existence. About 10 o'clock 
on the night preceding the dreaded day, a messenger arrived at 
Chester, out of the woods, and told the people that three families, 
about nine miles distant, were all cut off by the Indians. A 
Friend, then at Chester with two young men, about midnight 
proceeded to the reported scene of the outrage. They found 
empty houses, but no evidence of murder ; their occupants under 
the prevailing alarm, having fled to the houses of their parents 
at Ridley Creek. The master of one of these families, being 
from home, had been informed that five hundred Indians were 
actually collected at Naaman's Creek in pursuit of their design 
to kill the English. So much was he alarmed, that as he was 
approaching his house, he imagined he heard his boy crying out 
" What shall I do, my Dame is Killed.''' Instead therefore of 
going to his house, he ran off to acquaint the government at 
Philadelphia, but was persuaded to return. The report, hoAV- 
ever, soon reached the city, when a messenger was immediately 
dispatched to Marcus Hook to inquire into the truth of it. He 
quickly returned with a confirmation of the report in a varied 
form — the 500 Indians were at an Indian town on the Brandy- 
wine ; and having a lame king, they had carried him off together 
with all their women and children. 

The Council were sitting in Philadelphia, when one of them,^ 

1 Proud, from whose history this account has been substantially copied, supposes 
this member to have been Caleb Pusey, but Caleb was not a member of Council that 
year. He was a member of the Assembly in 1687. There is no reference to an Indian 
insurrection in the minutes of Council for 1688, but the minutes for 1689, show that 
considerable alarm existed on account of an anticipated attack from both the French 
and the Indians. 



1688.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 169 

who lived in Chester County, voluntarily offered himself to go 
to the Indian encampment, provided five others were named to 
accompany him ; and to proceed without weapons. This being 
agreed upon, the party rode to the place designated ; but instead 
of meeting with 500 warriors, they found the old King quietly 
lying with his lame foot on the ground, and his head on a pillow 
— the women at work and the children at play. When informed 
of their mission, the old man was displeased, and said the Indian 
women who raised the report ought to be burnt to death ; adding 
that the Indians had nothing against the English, but at the 
same time reminded the men, that about £15 was still due on 
the land that had been purchased from them ; which the messen- 
gers assured him should be paid. Thus terminated the most 
serious Indian trouble that ever befell the European inhabitants 
of the land now embraced within the limits of Delaware County. 

At the earnest solicitation of Thomas Lloyd, to be released 
from the cares of government, that worthy gentleman, with his 
associated Commissioners, was this year superseded by the ap- 
pointment, by William Penn, of John Blackwell as his Lieute- 
nant Governor. 

Besides the Indian conveyances that have already been no- 
ticed, there was still another executed, in 1685, for all the lands 
" lying between Macopanackan als. Upland, now called Chester 
river or creek, and the river or creek of Pemapecka, now called 
Dublin creek. Beginning at the hill called Conshohockin, on the 
River Manaiunck or Skoolkill, from thence extends in a paralell 
line to the said Macopanackan als. Chester creek, by a South- 
westerly course, and from the said Conshohocken hill to y'' afore- 
said Pemapecka, als. Dublin creek so far as the creek extends, and 
so from thence North westerly back into y** Woods, to make up 
Two full Daies journey as far as a man can go in two dayes from 
the said station of y*^ s*^ paralell line at Pemapecka, also begin- 
ning at the said paralell Macopanackan, als. Chester creek, and 
so from thence up the said creek as far as it extends ; and from 
thence North Westerly back into the Woods to make up Two full 
Dayes Journey, as far as a man can go in two dayes from the s*^ 
station of the s*^ paralell line at y® s*^ Macopanackan als. Chester 
creek. "^ 

Some delay occurred before arrangements were made for ascer- 
taining the western boundary of the above strangely described 
purchase ; but when made, it will be seen by the following letter 
and annexed diagram, that it was not without ample prepara- 
tions for obtaining the greatest possible distance out of the " two 
full Daies Journey : ' ' 

1 Pena. Archives, i. 92. 



170 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1688. 

^'■Philadelphia.'' " To my very louing friends, Sliakhoppoh, 

Secanning, Malebore, Tangoras, In- 
dian Kings, and to Maskecasho, Wawarim, Tenoughan, Terrec- 
ka, Nessonhaikin, Indian SaJcemakers, and the rest concerned." 

" Whereas I have purchased and bought of you, the Indian 
Kings and Sackamakies for the use of Governor William Penn 
all yo' land from Pemapecka Creek to Upland Creek and so back- 
ward to the Chesapeak Bay and Susquehanna Two days Journey, 
that is to say as far as a man can go in two days, as under the 
hands and seals of you the said Kings may appear and to the 
end I may have a certain knowledge of the lands backward, and 
that I may be enabled and be provided against the time for Run- 
ning the said two days Journey, I do hereby appoint and author- 
ize my louing friend Benjamin Chambers of Philadelphia, with 
a convenient number of men to assist him, to mark out a Westerly 
line from Philadelphia to Susquehannah, that the said line may 
be prepared and made ready for going the said two days Journey 
backward hereafter, when notice is given to you the said kings 
or some of you at the time of going the said line, and I do hereby 
desire and require in the name of our said Goven"^ Penn that 
none of you said kings, Sakamakies or any other Indians what- 
soever that haue formerly been concerned in the said tracts of 
land, do presume to offer any interruption or Hindrance in making 
out this said line, but rather I expect yo"" furtherance and assist- 
ance, if occasion be herein, and that you will be kind and loving 
to my said friend Benjamin Chambers and his company for which 
I shall on the Govern"^ behalf, be kind and loving to you here- 
after as occasion may require. 

Witness my hand and seal this T*"" day of the 5"" mo. called 
July, being the fourth year of the reign of our great King of 
England &c. and 8^^ year of our Proprietary William Penn's go- 
vernment. Thos Holme." 

This document is certified by Jacob Taylor, as being " a true 
copy from the original."^ The jdiagram, which is without date, 
was probably made from a survey executed this year, and in pur- 
suance of the foregoing notice. It shows that the line rjun passed 
directly through this County; the dwellings of four well-known 
early immigrants being marked on it within the limits of Dela- 
ware County.^ 

1 Surveyor-Gen. office, Harrisburg, " Old Surveys and Register of Land Warrants," 
Book 14. 

2 The starting-point of the line run for the two days' walk, as indicated by the dia- 
gram, does not seem to correspond with the deed, and the course of the line, as is 
shown by " A map of the South East part of Pennsylvania," by John Taylor, on file 
in the Surveyor-General's office, was due west. Still the walk might not have com- 
menced at the beginning of the line, and a little vnriation in the course was not a 
matter of much consequence to the Indians. The dwelling marked " Thos. Pearce " 
on the diagram, was the residence of Thomas Pearson, the maternal grandfather of 
Benj. West, the painter. 



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1689.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 171 

Bartholomew Coppock was elected a member of the Provincial 
Council this year. 

Towards the close of the year 1688, Governor Blackwell issued 
a new commission to the Justices and Sheriffs of the several coun- 
ties. Those of Chester county had continued to act under their 
old commissions, which coming to the ears of his Excellency as 
he passed through Chester, he availed himself of the opportunity 
afforded by the next meeting of Council to reprimand John 
Simcock, John Bristow and Bartholomew Coppock, jr., who were 
Justices of the Court as well as Members of Council. After de- 
bating the matter " it was thought advisable, and agreed that a 
General Sessions should be called," specially for the purpose of 
making proclamation of the new Commissions of the Justices of 
Chester County. This took place on the 19th of the 1st mo., 
(March) 1689, when the Commissions constituting John Simcock, 
John Bristow, Bartholomew Coppock, jr., John Blunston, George 
Maris, Francis Harrison and Nicholas Newlin, Justices, and 
Joshua Fearn, Sheriff, were read and published in due form. 

Notwithstanding the line run in 1685 between Philadelphia 
and Chester Counties, put Haverford and Radnor in the latter 
county, the Welsh inhabitants of those townships refused to re- 
cognize the validity of the division. This led some of the Justices 
and other inhabitants of Chester County to petition the Governor 
and Council on the subject. In their ^'■Humble petition,'' they 
represent the county as " a small tract of Land, not above nine 
miles square and but thinly seated, whereby y'^ said county is 
not able to Support the Charge thereof," and after reciting the 
division line run in 1685, ask that it may be confirmed, so that 
" the County of Chester may be in some measure able to defray 
their necessary Charge."^ 

Nothing could be produced as authority from Penn for estab- 
lishing the line, except verbal statements made to different persons 
shortly before he returned to England. The Governor required 
the persons to whom these statements had been made, to put 
them in writing ;^ which being done, and Holme's map examined, 
the Governor and a majority of the Council expressed opinions 
adverse to the pretentions of the Welsh inhabitants. It was 
asserted that the Welsh had also " denyed themselves to be any 
part of the County of Philadelphia, by refusing to bear any share 
of the charges, or to serve in the office of jury's, and the like as 
to y*^ County of Chester ; — that the pretence thereof was they 
w^ere a distinct Barrony, w"*" though they might be, yet that 
several Barronys might be in one and y*^ same County."^ 

1 Col. Rec. i. 263. 

2 These statements were made by John Blunston, Randal Vernon and Thomas 
Usher. lb. 264. ^ lb. 265. 



172 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1689. 

Upon the application of Thomas Lloyd for a hearing, the sub- 
ject was postponed till the next day, when he, in conjunction 
with John Eckley, appeared on behalf of the Welsh, but not 
being provided with anything but verbal testimony, that Penn 
had intended the Welsh Tract as a Barony or County Palatine, 
as was contended by Thomas Lloyd, the decision of the Gover- 
nor and Council was a confirmation of the original line. 

It is a remarkable circumstance that Penn's warrant for lay- 
ing out the Welsh Tract, already given, was not adduced in this 
controversy, as it certainly recognizes the idea of a Barony. 

Notwithstanding the decision of the Governor and Council, 
our Welshmen were not yet ready to yield the point. In an 
election for a member of Council and six Assemblymen for 
Philadelphia County, 50 or 60 persons of the townships of Haver- 
ford and Radnor, gave their votes by ballot with the freemen of 
the said county. The Governor and Council having decided that 
these townships were in Chester County, they "resolved y* y^ 
Election of Jo"^ Eckley (the member returned) was not a good 
Election according to y^ Charter;" whereupon a writ was issued 
for another election. 

In this election the freemen refused to vote by ballot, but 
viva voce, confirmed the election of John Eckley, unanimously. 
Some of the discussion that ensued in Council upon the validity 
of this procedure is given, as it explains the manner in which 
elections were conducted by our ancestors in these primitive 
times. After several members had expressed themselves satisfied 
with the return, "the Governor say'^ : The former Election has 
been already determined not to be a good Election, and there- 
fore that cannot be insisted upon." 

" John Curtis say'^ : I think it was a very fayre Election. In 
other places we are generally chosen by the Vote : and I think 
where they are unanymous, there needs no controversy." 

" The balloting box is not used in any other place but this 
county. We are elected by vote." 

" GriiF. Jones answered, That was a mistake, for it is used at 
upland & all the Lower Countyes, by black and white beanes, 
put into a hatt, W'' is a balloting in his sense, & canot be denyed 
by the Charter when it is demanded."^ 

What a contrast between this simple mode of exercising the 
elective franchise by means of " black and white beanes," and the 
scrutinizing and expensive method that the dishonesty of poli- 
ticians and the scramble for office have forced us to adopt in 
these latter days. 

The Welsh troubles are now transferred from the Council 
Chamber to the Court at Chester. The Court made an order 

1 Col. Rec. i. 282. 



1689.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 173 

appointing John Jerman Constable for Radnor, and John Lewis 
for Hartfort, [IIaverford,J but these gentlemen did not come 
forward to be qualified into office. At the following Court, it 
was " ordered that warrants of Contempt be directed to the 
Sheriff to apprehend the bodys of John Lewis and John Jerman 
for their contempt in not entering into their respective offices of 
Constable (viz) John Lewis for Hartfort, and John Jerman for 
Radnor, when thereunto required by this Court." 

David Lawrence had been returned as a Grand Juror from 
Haverford, but refusing to attend, was presented by that body 
and fined 10s. They also " do present the want of the inhabi- 
tants of the townships of Radnor and Hartfort and the in- 
habitants adjacent, they not being brought in to Join with us in 
the Levies and other public services of this county." 

At the June Court of this year, the commission of William 
Howell, of Haverford, as a Justice, was read and published, and 
"he did afterwards subscribe to the solemn declaration, pre- 
pared by the 57*'' Chapter of the great law of this province ;" 
at the same Court William Jenkins, of Haverford, served as a 
Juror, and at the December Court, John Jerman was attested 
Constable for Radnor. This is the first official recognition by 
any of the inhabitants of these townships, that they were sub- 
ject to the jurisdiction of Chester County. They seem to have 
given up the idea of a Barony, and with as good a grace as pos- 
sible, submitted to the authority they were unable any longer to 
resist. By the close of the year, these townships were supplied 
with a full set of township officers, being the first appointed 
within their limits. 

The King's road between Namaan's Creek and Chichester 
Creek, '■''not being cleared of logs,'' became a subject of present- 
ment by the Grand Jury; also "the want of afoot bridge over 
the mill creek between this County and Philadelphia, it being 
the King's road." 

In their watchfulness over the interests of the County the 
want of a proper accountability on the part of disbursing officers, 
did not escape the notice of the Grand Jury. In a presentment 
they ask for an account in detail — showing payments on account 
of the Court-house and prison, the poor, Wolve's heads. Council- 
men's fees, &c. 

The Clerk is presented for extortion, and they likewise present, 
" as a general grievance of this County the want of a standard 
to try both dry measure and liquid measure," for they say "some 
are too big and others are something too little." They recom- 
mend the "Winchester measure." 

New modes of punishment for crime are constantly introduced : 
T L , a servant, for "counterfeiting pieces of eight, is 



174 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1689. 

sentenced, " to stand at the public place of correction at the 
town of Chester, two several Court days, 3 hours each day, with 
a paper of his crimes, written in capital letters affixed upon his 
breast." This punishment became what was known as " Stand- 
ing in the Pillory. '' This is the first instance of its infliction, and 
that name is not applied to it in early times. 

It was at the August Court of this year that the appointment 
of a jury of women was made. It is the only instance found in 
the Hecord. The infliction of corporal punishment had become 
very general in cases of crim. con. When pregnancy had ensued 
the punishment was delayed ; and it was to decide a question of 
doubt in a particular case that the female jury was empanneled. 
" They make their return that they cannot find she is, neither 
be they sure she is not." The result showed that the punish- 
ment was properly delayed. 

The freedom of speech was very much restricted in these 
early times. Prosecutions for slandering the officers of the Pro- 
vincial Government, or the Justices of the Court, were of frequent 
occurrence. In most instances the criminal expressions were 
nothing more than the wild ravings of drunkenness, or the 
boastful expressions of weak men who sought notoriety. For 
"speaking or uttering slanderous and dishonorable words against 
the life, person, and government of the chief Proprietary, Wil- 
liam Penn, as also against the life and person of this present Go- 
vernor, John Blackwell, Esq.," the defendant upon his own con- 
fession was fined £5. " For defaming John Simcock one of the 
people's representatives in the Council, in the words that he was 
drunk at the last Court at Chester, the party was bound to his 
good behaviour, & was to set up a paper of what his crime was." 

At the June Court of this year, the Grand Jury laid out a 
landing place and open street for the service of the County as 
follows: "beginning at the Northwesterly corner of the court 
house to low water mark, by Chester Creek and so of the same 
breadth by the said creek down to the Delaware River to low 
water mark, thence and also from the first mentioned corner of the 
Court house a public street 30 foot wide through Chester town." 

Appraisements of the efi'ects of decedents were made to the 
Orphans' Court. The names of some articles included in the 
inventories, sound strangely to us of this day, and the value put 
on others is equally remarkable. Thus, 1 doz. trenches is valued 
at Is ; 4 quaifs at 2s; 7 petticoats at £S ; one pair of stays & 
two green aprons, at £2 10s, and a cow and calf at £1 10, &c. 

Previous to 1689 the Records of the Chester Court furnish no 
instance of imprisonment as a punishment for crime, for a period 
longer than a few weeks. This year there was a sentence for a 
year's imprisonment, in addition to corporal punishment. 



1689.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 175 

John Simcock was re-elected to Council from Chester County, 
and the name of George Foreman appears as Sheriff. William 
and Mary were proclaimed King and Queen in 1689. 

Probably nine-tenths of the population of the County were, at 
this time, members of the Society of Friends, and their plan of 
accomplishing marriages had become so common, that it came 
to be looked upon with favor by persons not in membership, who 
indeed, sometimes asked and obtained permission to be joined in 
marriage in that way. Chester Monthly Meetings had permitted 
a marriage where one of the parties to it, " owned himself to 
be none of us, yet was willing to submit to the order of Friends." 
In Haverford Meeting, marriages of persons not members appear 
to have been allowed, as a matter of course,^ but in Chichester 
and Concord it appears from the following extract from the 
minutes of their meeting, that such parties were subjected to 
rather an embarrassing examination previous to permission being 
granted to proceed. 

It was proposed by friends to the young man and woman : " 1^' 
Whether he did believe that was the truth which we professed, and 
walked in according to our measure — further showing that if we 
did not walk in the truth according to our measure given to us, 
we were but a community of men and women and not a Church 
of Christ — and then marriage would be as well by the law of 
the Province as among us ; and your coming to us to propose 
your intentions of marriage and desiring our consent is as we 
are a church, which we cannot be without we walk in truth — 
Therefore whether thou dost believe that is the truth we profess, 
to walk in ? His answer was yes he did believe it. Also the 
young woman was asked the same. Her answer was, I do be- 
lieve it." 

" 2""^ Whether you do believe that this way of marriage among 
friends is according to the order of Truth ?" 

^ The following is a copy of the certificate of such a marriage in Haverford meeting : 

" Haverford the IT''' day of the ninth 
month in the year 1687." 
"This is to certify all whom it may concern, that the day and year above written, 
Daniel Thomas late of Haverford aforesaid, together with Elenor Vaughan of the 
same, came to the meeting of God called Quakers, where they solemnly declared that 
then and there they took each other as man and woman, mutually promising faithful- 
ness to each other in their respective stations, and so to continue untill death them part. 
Having formerly made known their intentions to their neighbors and at several of o'' 
meetings, and further desire o'' certificate, who being present accordingly subscribe o'^ 
names." 

" Lewis David EUinor Lawrence Daniel Thomas 

James Thomas Sarah Rhydrth Ellinor Thomas" 

David Lawrence Given Thomas 

Morris Llewelin ffrancis Price 

John Richard Sarah David 

Daniel Lawrence Mary Llewelin 

Richard Hayes 

David Llewelin 



176 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1690. 

u grd "Whetlier you do believe it is your duty thus to proceed ? 
they both answered — yes." 

"Friends said as Paul to the, Church of the Romans — Chap. 
14-1 — Him that is weak in the faith receive you, but not to 
doubtful disputations." 

" Whereupon friends left them to proceed according to the 
good order of truth, they having their parents consent thereunto." 

However much the people of England were benefited by the 
accession of William and Mary to the Throne, to Penn the change 
was the source of great trouble, serious disappointments, and, no 
doubt, of pecuniary loss. From having been the friend and 
favorite of the deposed monarch, James XL, he came to be a sus- 
pected person under the new government ; and, without having 
committed any offence, he was subjected to all the inconveniences 
that suspicion brought upon its victims at this period of alarm 
and distrust. He was arrested, held to bail, examined, dis- 
charged, re-arrested and imprisoned ; and eventually driven into 
retirement. But his private interests suffered most ; and parti- 
cularly in having his matured arrangements for returning to 
Pennsylvania frustrated. His interests here had been greatly 
neglected, especially in the collection of quit-rents. As a con- 
sequence, more stringent instructions for their collection became 
necessary. 

The too rigid enforcement of these instructions gave rise to 
dissatisfaction, which, in some instances, was not without reason. 
This was particularly the case in the Welsh Tract, where the 
Commissioners insisted that the purchasers within its limits 
should pay the quit-rent on the whole 40,000 acres because it 
had been surveyed, or that others than Welshmen should be 
allowed to take up lands within the bounds of the Tract. 

The excuse offered by the Commissioners for this stretch of 
their power, was the great damage the Proprietary had sustained 
from the want of seating and improving the Welsh Tract, and 
" the loss and hindrance to the well seating and strengthening 
the province." These allegations were destitute of truth, for up 
to this period the legitimate settlements within the Welsh Tract 
had progressed as rapidly as in other directions ; and notwith- 
standing the Commissioners, upon the refusal of the Welshmen 
to pay quit-rent on the whole Tract, granted patents to others 
within its bounds, the immigration from Wales was sufficiently 
rapid to substantially settle the whole territory allotted to them 
by Penn, as early as the adjoining districts were peopled. 

The pathetic appeal made by Griffith Owen and other inhabi- 
tants of the Welsh Tract against the unwarrantable proceedings 
of the Commissioners is worthy of particular notice, as it fully 
explains the peculiar kind of community our Welsh ancestors 



1690.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 177 

had hoped to establish in the land of their adoption. They 
say : 

" Wee, the Inhabitants of the Welsh Tract, in the Province of 
Penn% in America, being descended of the Antient Britains, 
who always in the land of our Nativity, under the Crown of 
England, have enjoyed that liberty and priviledge as to have our 
bounds and limits by ourselves, within the which all causes, 
Quarrells, crimes & titles were tryed & wholly determined by 
officers, magistrates [and] Juries of our own language, which 
were our equals. Having our faces towards these countries, 
made the motion to our Gov: that we might enjoy the same here, 
w"*" thing was soon granted by him before he or we were come to 
these parts." 

They then recite the fact of the grant and survey of the 40,000 
acres, upon which they say there were already near four score 
settlements, besides " several scores of their men servants who 
vere very desirous to have out their head land," and that some 
of their friends had been here awhile, and had returned for their 
families, friends and relations, &c. ; " and now," they say, " to 
deprive these of their lands & Libertys which they depend 
upon when coming here, (& that in their absence,) we look upon 
it to be very unkind Dealing, like to Ruin many Families, as 
also a subtell undermining to shutt that Door against our Nation, 
which the Lord had opened for them to come to these Countreys, 
for we can declare with an open face to God and man that we 
desired to be by ourselves for no other End or purpose, but that 
we might live together as a Civill Society to endeavour to deside 
all Controversies and debates amongst ourselves in Gospel order, 
and not to entangle ourselves with Laws in an unknown Tongue, 
as also to preserve our Language, that we might ever keep Cor- 
respondence with our friends in the land of our nativity. There- 
fore our request is that you be tender not only of violating the 
Governor's promise to us, but also of being instrumental! of 
depriving us of the things which were the chief motives and in- 
ducements to bring us here," &c.^ 

The Commissioners having prejudged the case, their answer 
was of course not satisfactory, and the land within the Welsh 
Tract was thrown open for settlement to others besides the de- 
scendants of the "Ancient Britains," but the number who em- 
braced the opportunity was not large. 

John Blunston having declined to serve any longer as a mem- 
ber of Council from Chester County, William Howell was elected 
to serve in his stead. What is remarkable in the return of this 
election is, that it is signed by all the Freeholders who voted, 
the number being 29.^ 

1 Penna. Archives, i. 108. ^ i]y[^ i n^ William Howell also declined serving. 

12 



178 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1690. 

Upon the petition of David Lloyd, " a road or street was laid 
out from his plantation to Chester Creeke to the public landing 
place," as follows : 

" Chester, this 4'*' of the 4**^ month 1690.— We the Grand In- 
quest do lay out a street 30 feet wide, the one half of this public 
street to be on one side the line dividing betwixt David Lloyd's 
and the Green L. C. one half on David Lloyd's Land, the other 
half on the Green's side, note that this street begins at the 
public landing place at Chester Creek, and ending at the further 
side of Joseph Richards his lot near David Lloyd's house ; note 
also, that if any part of the 15 foot on David Lloyd his side, 
which is laid out for the street, it must so remain." 

The street thus laid out is now known in the borough of 
Chester as Filbert street, and we are thereby enabled with 
great precision to locate " the Grreen" a plot of ground well 
known at this period, and for some time afterwards, by that 
name. This Green was Church land, and was no doubt secured 
by the Swedes in anticipation of the erection of a church at 
Upland. It is included in a patent^ for a larger tract granted 
to "Rev. Laurenty Caroly minister to the Swedes," April 8th, 
1669. This patent includes the whole river front from Upland 
Kill to " Prissers Kill," and is referred to as " the minister's 
land, " in a patent granted to Jurian Kene on the 4th of August 
of the previous year. 

" The Green" does not appear to have had any definite 
bounds till the 11th of the Tth month, (September,) 1684, when, 
upon a warrant of survey, a plot of nearly five acres in the 
form of a parallelogram, extending 12 perches along the east 
side of Upland Creek, and ^b perches along the river, was sur- 
veyed and laid out "unto Swedes in Upland township."^ It 
will be seen, hereafter, how this Oliurch Glehe came to be appro 
priated to secular uses. 

John Hoskins was presented by the Grand Jury for trespassing 
"upon the County's land belonging to the prison house in 
Chester." 

"James Sanderlands being called and examined about the above 
said land, declareth that he did give all that land on which the 
prison now standeth between the street and the creek, at the first 

beginning of this Government, for to build a prison upon."^ 

« 

1 Albany Rec. " Abstract of Patents," ii. 57. See Appendix, Note C. 

2 The description in the Survey is as follows : " beginning at a corner post standing 
by Upland Creek, being a corner of Eusta Anderson, and thence by the same S. 72° 

E. 66 per. to a corner post, thence S. 21° E. 12 perches to a corner post by House 

by Delaware river, thence down the several courses thereof to the mouth of the said 
Upland Creek, thence up the same to the place of beginning." It is marked " A tract 
of the S weeds in Upland township. — See Book B, No. 3, Surveyor-General' 8 Office, Har- 
risburg. 

* This would seem to indicate that the first prison erected was not connected with 
the Court-house, but doubtless stood on the same lot nearer the creek. Front street, 
when laid out, passed between the Court-house and prison. 



1690.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 179 

This year Thomas Person [Pearson] and Peter Worrall were 
appointed " fence viewers," and as a consequence of this step 
in the road of improvement, John Thomas of Marple was pre- 
sented by the Grand Jury "for keeping unlawful fences, and 
disturbing his neighbor's cattle." 

"Bethel Hamlet" is also presented, "for not repairing the 
bridge in said Hamlet." 

The Kings road crossing Chester creek at the head of tide, 
there was no public road extending directly from Chester to 
Chichester (Marcus Hook). With the view of rendering the 
intercourse between the inhabitants of those places less difficult, 
the Grand Jury laid out " a foot way six foot wide from Chester 
creek over against the common landing place ; . . . unto 
Chichester creek." 

"A deed of foefment was delivered in open Court by Thomas 
Powell unto Peter Taylor and Randall Maylin in the behalf of 
several others for a parcel of land lying in Upper Providence, 
for the use of a burying place, bearing date the second day of 
the seventh month 1690." This acre now constitutes Sandy 
Bank grave-yard. 

No one can examine these early Records of Chester County 
Court without discovering that there had been an increase in 
the higher grades of crime. Persons of bad character had 
smuggled themselves into the Province with the early settlers, 
or had been banished from the neighboring Counties or Pro- 
vinces. With this increase of crime, more se 'ere and more 
revolting punishments were resorted to. Whipping with 
" 89 lashes well laid on his bare back attJie cart's tail," was the 
sentence of a servant man in Chichester for stealing 14 dressed 
deer skins; and, in addition, he was directed to be sold for 
eight years for his fine, costs, and to repay the losses occa- 
sioned by a former larceny. Banishment for collusion with a 
horse thief, and a forfeiture of one half of the defendant's 
estate, in addition to one year's imprisonment, for adultery, 
were also among the sentences of this year. 

At the September Court, the name of Joshua Fearne appears 
both as a Justice and as Clerk of the Court. 

The disputes between Governor Blackwell and his Council 
were so frequent, that Penn was obliged to make a change in 
the executive department of the Government. The executive 
duties now devolved on the Council, with Thomas Lloyd as 
President. This change rendered a new appointment of Justices 
in the several counties necessary. The following persons were 
appointed for Chester County; John Bristow, John Beaven, 
John Blunston, Nich. Newlin, ffrancis Harrison, Sam^^ Levis, 
James Sanderling, W". Howell, Jo', fifearne. 



180 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1691. 

It was resolved and ordered by the Council this year, "that 
each county shall hencefforward Elect or give their Suffrages 
according to Charter, viz.: by y^ ballat." This mode of 
election has ever since prevailed in Pennsylvania. 

The Friends' Monthly Meeting of Chester, now composed of 
the four particular meetings of Providence, Middletown, Spring- 
field, and Chester, became more earnest in respect to the 
erection of a meeting-house on the lot that had been purchased 
for that purpose. A committee for each meeting was appointed 
to collect the necessary funds, and m the commencement of the 
following year it was agreed, "that John Bristow and Caleb 
Pusey do forthwith agree with and employ workmen in the 
building the meeting house at Chester, (with stone) on the place 
that was formerly bought for that purpose; the situation of 
which, as also the manner of building the same, is left to their 
own discretion, and that this meeting do defray the charge of 
the same,^ so that it exceed not above one hundred pounds, and 
that there be one convenient chimney at the least, and that the 
said John Bristow and Caleb Pusey do give account of what 
they have done." 

The Welsh inhabitants of Haverford and Radnor have, at 
length, fully submitted to being annexed to Chester County. 
The names of several from those townships appear as jurors, 
and that of William Jenkins, of Haverford, as a Justice of the 
Court. 

David Lloyd appeared on behalf of the recusant Welshmen, 
and assured the Court, " that they were willing to pay according 
to their proportions from the time they have been legally in this 
county ; and after some debate it was agreed and acknowledged by 
David Lloyd, that the Welsh who are reputed to be within the 
bounds of Chester County, shall contribute towards paying the 
tax, the same being assessed and levied upon them as upon the 
inhabitants of Chester County according to due proportion & 
priority of residence and settlement, the inhabitants of the County 
of Chester indemnifying them the said Welsh from paying in 
Philadelphia and be at the charge of altering the patents and 
deeds which mention Philadelphia^ instead of Chester County; 
provided that such their contribution to the said tax shall not 
be prejudicial or made use of to debar them of any privileges the 
Proprietor is or shall be willing and capable to grant or confirm 
unto them." Thus ended the Welsh difiiculty ; and although 

1 The first subscription for building this meeting amounted to £56 7s., and was 
made by 54 persons. 

2 In nearly all the early conveyances of land in Haverford and Radnor, it is described 
as being in the " Welsh tract," and some of them also mention that the land is in the 
County of Philadelphia; but the author has never seen that any alteration or change 
has been made in any of these old title papers. 



1691.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 181 

the result was not in the end really prejudicial to the inhabitants 
of the two townships, it was certainly in violation of a solemn 
promise made to many of them before leaving their native coun- 
try. The Welsh people, though placed in two municipal districts, 
in each of which they were greatly in the minority, did not for a 
long time lose their distinctive characteristics. The Welsh lan- 
guage prevailed for many years; and if tradition is to be relied 
upon, there were many Welsh Quakers who could not understand 
William Penn when he preached at Haverford meeting in 1700-1. 

The strict impartiality with which the Grand Juries acted has 
been mentioned. As an instance of this impartiality, Caleb 
Pusey was foreman of the Grand Jury this year, and yet we find 
his name included in the following presentment : 

" We the Grand Jury present, Richard Parker, Qaleh Pusey, 
George Foreman, James Sandilands, John Hoskins & Roger 
Jackson, for selling Beer &c. without license contrary to law." 

The following presentment contains the first intimation of the 
existence in the county of the instrument of punishment to which 
it refers : " We [the Grand Jury] also present Edward Eglinton 
for breaking the Stocks in the town of Chester, and unlawfully 
letting out a prisoner against the Peace of the King & Queen 
&c." It will be seen hereafter that stocks were established at 
other places besides Chester. Punishment by means of the stocks 
was mostly for petty offences, and was inflicted by authority of a 
magistrate or chief Burgess of the village in which they were 
" set up." This punishment rarely forms any part of a sentence 
of the Court. 

The very temporary character of the prison erected since the 
establishment of Penn's Government, a period of about ten years, 
may be judged of from the action now taken by the Court in re- 
spect to the erection of a new one. 

" The want of a prison having been presented by the Grand 
jury it was this Court (Oct. 1691) debated concerning the build- 
ing of a new prison and work house for felons ; and it was agreed 
by the Court that one should be builded, eighteen foot and twenty 
six foot, all builded of stone, and John Bristow and James Sandi- 
lands are intrusted and impowered by the Court as near as they 
can to complete the charges and make return of the same at the 
next County Court." It will be seen that this order of Court 
was not carried into effect. 

Heretofore, it has been the practice for the Justices of the 
Court to hold an Orphans' Court at specified times, when the 
other Courts were not in session. The present mode of proceed- 
ing is now initiated, with the exception that when the Court turns 
its attention from other business to that properly cognizable by 
the Orphans' Court, the record informs us that " An Orphans' 



182 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1692. 

Court was called." This tribunal was also charged with various 
duties, that would be rather onerous upon Orphans' Courts of 
the present day. The inventories and accounts of Executors and 
Administrators were brought into Court for personal examina- 
tion by the Justices, and, as " father of the poor," they put out 
apprentices. An instance occurs this year, in which two minors, 
a boy and a girl, were put out till they were twenty-two years 
of age. 

Making base coin appears to have been a common offence dur- 
ing the early settlement of the Province. At the last Court of 

this year, of Haverford, was presented, not only for 

makinghsise pieces of coin, but " for making stamps for others." 

A road had been laid out from Marple to Chester. In 1691 
the Grand Jury extended this road from a point not very distant 
from Rhoads' tan-yard in Marple to a point near Radnor meet- 
ing-house. As nearly as can now be ascertained, the route of 
this road passed along the present Springfield rmid to the road 
that passes the Drove tavern ; thence by the Presbyterian meet- 
ing-house to Darby Creek, through a valley, the jury says, 
" called the dry hollow." The road then occupied the bed of the 
present direct road to the meeting-house; the route does not 
appear to have been varied in the least on account of hills. The 
Grand Jury also laid out a road, "from the King's road in Darby 
township to the landing place at Calcin Hook." 

In 1691, the three lower counties were separated from the 
Province, much to the regret of the Proprietary. He appears, 
however, to have yielded his assent to the separation, by com- 
missioning Thomas Lloyd as Governor of the latter, and William 
Markham of the former.^ 

As serious as has been the disagreements between those with 
whom the government had been entrusted, and which brought 
about its division, the elements of discord of a still more serious 
character, had gained a footing in the religious society to which 
a very large proportion of the inhabitants of the province were 
attached. This doctrinal feud was introduced into the Society 
of Friends by the teachings of George Keith, a man of ability 
and education, who had been an eminent minister amongst them. 
The Quakers of this county, always alive to every thing that 
affected the interest of the Society, took an active part in the 
controversy, and though many took sides with Keith, there was 
no division that resulted in the establishment of separate meet- 
ings within our limits. 

In June, 1692, a meeting of Public Friends, in Philadelphia, 
issued the famous Testimony against George Keith, which was 
confirmed by the Yearly Meeting at Burlington, held in Septem- 

1 Proud's Hist. Penna. i. 367. 



1692.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 183 

ber.^ This document was signed by George Maris, Joshua 
Fearne, John Simcock, John Blunston and Walter Fawcet, min- 
isters of the Society residing in Chester county. Previous to 
the time of issuing this testimony, no notice appears in the 
minutes of any of the Monthly Meetings of Chester County on 
the subject of the controversy. 

Friends now begin to give their attention to the subject of 
schools. At a monthly meeting, held at Darby the 7th of the 
7th mo. (September), it was agreed, " that Benjamin Clift is to 
teach scoole, Beging* y® 12''' of y® 7*'' mo : and to continue one 
whole yeare, except 2 weckes." The annual salary of this worthy 
teacher, as appears by an agreement for employing him another 
year, was but £12. He probably boarded with his employers. 

Up to this time the supervisors of the highways were appointed 
by the Court, when the Justices ordered, " that every respective 
township within this county, for the future, from time to time, 
shall within themselves appoint supervisors and fence viewers, 
and make returns of the same to the County Court from time to 
time." Our Justices did not hesitate to legislate a little, occa- 
sionally, in these early times. 

It was not uncommon for the Court to notice abusive words 
spoken against any of its members. This practice was in accord- 
ance with the spirit of the times, but was evidently unattended 
by any beneficial results. A case, such as the following, could 
hardly be allowed to pass unnoticed at the present time : 

" J M was called to the bar to answer a present- 
ment of the Grand Jury, for abusing John Bristow and John Sim- 
cock, two of the King and Queen's Justices of the peace, in call- 
ing them a pack of Rogues, and the Jury was called & the said 

M did then, in open Court, afiirm that the said partys was 

two of the greatest rogues that ever came to America. Where- 
upon the Court gave judgment that he pay a fine of five pounds 

& Costs of suit, &c. The said M was also fined 5s. for 

swearing." 

From the following proceedings, in respect to laying out a road 
in Chester, it may be inferred that a public Dial was set up in 
that town. 

Upon petition of James Lownes, and others, the Grand Jury 
was authorized " to lay out a road to the Dyall post straitway to 
the road for the convenience of both town and country." This 
road was laid out and returned as follows : 

" Beginning at the Dyall post and so running south 22 de- 
grees West to low water mark ; then beginning again at the 
Dyall post aforesaid thence running North 22 degrees East up 
the King's road, which said road or street is to contain thirty 

1 Proud's Hist. Penna. i. 365-368. 



184 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1693. 

foot in breadth, and the said Dyall post is to be the western 
bounds thereof." 

The same Grand Jury, at the same Court, made what they are 
pleased to term, "a return of a road to Thornbury." Being 
brief, the "return" is given as another specimen of the manner 
these early road viewers performed their duties: 

"Beginning at a marked tree by Edward Carters, which was 
marked by a former Grand Jury, and so along a line of marked 
trees to John Baldwin's fence, and then by John's consent over a 
corner thereof through a corner of his field and so along to a black 
oak, being a corner of John Nield's land, and from thence down 
to John Nields field and by his consent over a corner thereof, and 
so through the creek, and up the hill, by Gilbert William's Barn."'^ 

The order for the erection of a new jail and work-house, made 
by the Court in 1691, does not appear to have been enforced, 
and the Grand Jury again presents the want of such a building. 
The Court having considered this action of the Grand Inquest, 
"agreed forthwith to build a prison," and did "order John Sim- 
cock & John Bristow to take care for the building of the same ; 
and that the sherifi" take care to levie the fines due to the public 
in order to defray the charges of the prison." 

The following order for a levy, made at the January Court of 
the following year, will show that the Sheriff had not been very 
successful in the collection of '^ fines due the public.'' 

"Whereas the Grand jury have taken into consideration, the 
necessity of a prison, and the defraying of the cliarge of the 
county, have unanymously agreed to lay a levie for defraying the 
said charges as followeth, viz: Upon every male white and black 
from 16 years to 60, 3s. every 100 acres belonging to per- 
sons resident, 3s. — and upon every 100 acres belonging to persons 
non-resident, 4s. 6d. ; and the Court considering of it agreed to the 
same, and doth order that forthwith warrants be issued out of 
the levie, the same in every township, by the respective consta- 
bles, one moiety to be paid, at or before the next County Court; 
and the other moiety, at or before the first of the 9th month fol- 
lowing ; and the constables shall [hold] a town's meeting to make 
assessment for levying the same; and when account is taken of 
Males and Lands, to return a duplicate of the same to Chester 
or Darby, when we will be at both places, for the ease of the 
country, Justices met to receive the same, upon the 13th day of 
the 12* mo. next." This is the first instance in levying a poll tax, 
where no distinction has been made between /reemew and servants. 

1 There appears to have been a review of this road the next year, and a still less 
intelligible return made by the Grand Jury, as follows, viz. : " that it shall go through 
John Nields field by the creek, and so by a straight line up the land of the Orphans of 
John Button as it was marked as we went along to the upper side of John Baldwins 
field, and he to take down two or three pannels of his fence and aslant to the line and 
along John Baldwin's line about twenty perches, and then as it is marked to the old 
road." 



1693,] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 185 

It might be supposed that the prompt erection of the new jail 
was now a matter of certainty, but it does not appear that the 
above levy was ever made ; owing, it is probable, to the desperate 
condition of the ajQTairs of the Proprietary ; for it was about this 
time that the King and Queen took the government of the Pro- 
vince out of his hands, and commissioned Benjamin Fletcher the 
Governor of New York, to be Captain General of Pennsylvania 
and the territories annexed. Be this as it may, a minute of the 
December Court of this year shows that another levy was 
authorized for the erection of the new prison. It is in these 
words : 

" The Grand Jury presented the want of a prison in the 
county, and they have given in their judgment, that one hundred 
and fifty pounds will defray the charge — the order of the Court 
is that there shall be a levy forthwith for the raising of the sum 
for the defraying of the said charge." 

At a Court of Petty Sessions, held at the house of John Hodg- 
kins at Chester early in the next year, an assessment was au- 
thorized for raising <£150 for defraying the charge of the new 
jail, " at the true value of two pence per pound upon the real 
and personal estates of all the inhabitants of this county, seasa- 
ble by the first act of the new laws^ — all freemen 6s. per head." 
This is the first ad valorem assessment made within our limits.^ 

It was the custom for the Grand Jury, whose duties were 
about to expire, to meet and make their presentments of every 
presentable matter that had come to their knowledge since the 
adjournment of the previous Court. After naming the Justices 
present, Sherifi" and Clerk, the minutes of each Court, at this 
period, proceed thus : 

"After proclamation made and silence commanded, by the 
King & Queen's authority, and in the Proprietary's name, the 
Grand Jury was called over, and appeared and gave in their 
presentments and was discharged ; and a new Grand Jury re- 
turned by the Sherifi" was empannelled." A less number com- 
posed a Grand Jury then than at the present day — usually about 
fifteen. 

Some idea may be formed of the mischievously inquisitorial 
character of Chester County Grand Juries at this period, from 

1 Governor Fletcher held that the laws that had been made under the Proprietary's 
charter were no longer in force, and required them to be re-enacted by the Assembly 
— many of them in a modified form. See Col. Rec. i. 364, &c. These new laws were 
read at the July Court, 1693, by George Foreman, a member of the Council. 

^ The author has seen an original warrant issued by John Bristow " to Isaac Taylor 
constable of Thornbury," dated the 23d of the 11th mo. 1692, in which the following 
language occurs, viz : "these may certifie, that y** accounts were made up this Court, 
and approved by the Grand Jury, and upon ballance of the acco', y^ county is found 
to be iu debt £183: 19^: 6\ whereof for the raising of money to defray y® s"* Charge, 
& for y« building of a new prison with stone, the Cort, by & with the advice & consent 
of y^ Grande Inquest, have unanymously agreed to Lay a levy &c." 



186 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1693. 

the fact that at one Court two newly-married couples were made 
the subjects of presentment because a child was born, in each 
case, too soon after marriage. In one case, besides the Court 
charges and a fine of 20s., both parties were sentenced " to 
attend at the common whipping post and for the ofiicer to declare 
their offence to the people ;" while in the other case the fine was 
50s., but the woman only was subjected to public exposure. This 
was more wantonly cruel than was inflicted in the former case, 
and consisted in standing at the common whipping post for one 
quarter of an hour with a paper on her breast, thus : " I here 
stand for an example to all others for committing the most 
wicked & notorious sin of fornication." 

Presentments by the Grand Jury of such cases as the above 
could have no beneficial result, but their watchfulness when 
directed to matters that concerned the public was often produc- 
tive of much good, especially when seconded by the Court. A 
bridge over Ridley Creek having been several times presented, 
the Court this year imposed a fine of <£5 each on the supervisors 
of Chester and Ridley for their neglect to repair it. Such cases 
were not unfrequent. 

While the Courts at this period, and for many years after- 
wards, did not hesitate to sentence a freeman to be sold into 
servitude for a period of years, in order to liquidate a fine or 
some other dues, they were extremely vigilant in guarding ser- 
vants against oppression by their masters. Upon the complaint 
of a servant that he had served out his time and had been turned 
ojff "without clothes fitting for a servant to have," the Court 
ordered his master to '■'■pay him" a hat, coat, waistcoat, breeches, 
drawers, stockings and shoes, all new, and also ten bushels of 
wheat or fourteen bushels of corn, two hoes and one axe. This 
kind of complaint was very common, and was denominated a 
claim "for the custom of the country." Justice Jonathan 
Hayes constantly interposes his dissent to the allowance of this 
" custom.'' 

There was another duty the Court had to perform in respect 
to children about being bound out to service. This duty con- 
sisted in determining their ages, and the time they should serve. 
This was termed "Judging" them. At the October Court of 
this year " the boys that Mauris Trent brought into the country 
were called up to be judged.'' There were eight of these boys, 
and they were probably negroes. They were ordered to serve 
their respective masters till they arrived at the age of 21 years. 

The Grand Jury laid out the following roads this year, viz : 
One from the townships of Upper Providence and Edgmont " to 
the limestone;" one from Newtown to Haverford Mill; one 
from Thornbury towards Chester, and they reported adversely 



1693.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 187 

to one application for a road, which is the first adverse report 
on the record. 

Upon the petition of the Inhabitants of Radnor to the Lieut. 
Governor and Council " requesting a road to be laid outt from 
the upper part of the s^ township of Radnor unto marion ford," 
a warrant was directed by the Lieut. Governor to lay out the 
same.^ 

Upon petition of the Inhabitants of Chester County to the 
Governor and Council, setting forth that they had long suffered 
for want of a division line between that county and New Castle, 
it was resolved, "that for the present convenience of the govern- 
ment and not for an absolute and final proprietarie division, (but 
that the inhabitants on the borders of both counties may know 
to which of the two to pay their levies, taxes &c.. and perform 
their countie services,) the bounds of New Castle Countie shall 
extend Northward to the mouth of Naaman's creek, and upwards 
along the S. W. side of the northermost branch, (excluding the 
townshipps of Concord & Bethell) and not to extend backwards 
of the northermost branch above the s*^ townshipps."^ 

It is a source of regret that the minutes of Haverford Monthly 
Meeting from the 5th mo. (July,) 1686, to the 5th mo., 1693, are 
wanting, because that meeting was more particular than any 
other in noting matters that would form interesting items for a 
local history. During this period, the meeting at the Schuylkill 
has ceased to be connected with this monthly meeting, but the 
register of Marriages, still preserved, shows that the connection 
continued till 1688. The Haverford Monthly Meeting is now 
composed of the three preparative meetings of Merion, Haver- 
ford and Radnor. 

It has been seen that the Welsh people, of which these meet- 
ings were almost wholly composed, refused till 1690 to attach 
themselves to any district in which municipal government had 
been established ; claiming a promise from the Proprietary, that 
they should form a separate community, with a view of deciding 
all controversies and debates amongst themselves in their own 
language and "in Gospel order." The monthly meeting was 
doubtless the tribunal that regulated the secular as well as the 
spiritual affairs of our Welsh ancestors for seven or eight years 
after their first settlement ; nor did they wholly entrust their 
civil matters to the ofiicers of the law for some time after they 
had submitted to a division of the Welsh Tract between the 
Counties of Philadelphia and Chester. Thus, at the monthly 
meeting held at Haverford in the 6th month (August,) 1693, it 
was ordered, " y* Wm. Howell, Morris Llewelyn for Haverford, 
David Merideth, David Evans for Radnor, Griffith Jones, James 

1 Col. Rec. i. 356. a Ibid. 349. 



188 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1694. 

Thomas for Merion, see y* sufficient fences be kept in his respec- 
tive neighborhood." And again in the proceedings of the 
following month, this minute occurs : 

"It is ordered by this meeting and consent of the inhabitants 
of the townships of Haverford and Radnor, in pursuance of a 1 iw 
in that case made y' y* inhabitance of y® s*^ two townships should 
pay Is. per hundred^ toward y*" takeing of Wolves. Wm. 
Howell, William Jenkins, for Haverford, and David Meredith 
and Stephen Bevan for Radnor, to receive y s'^ Taxe." 

Previously to the disownment of George Keith, as has been 
mentioned, the minutes of the several monthly meetings are silent 
in regard to him. Since that time he is frequently noticed, but 
not with respect. The first is by Chester Meeting, which orders 
" that [copies] of the paper written by Jane Biles as a testimony 
against George Keith and his company and separation and 
abusing friends, (which said paper being read and well approved 
of), be obtained," to be disposed of "for the general service of 
truth." The first meeting-house at Chester appears to have 
been completed in 1693.^ A meeting-house at Radnor was 
also completed and brought into service about the same time. 

The Society of Friends have been in advance of other religious 
sects in providing comfortable quarters for their horses at their 
places of worship. The first provision made for this purpose, of 
which there is any record, was at Haverford in 1694, when a 
committee was appointed by the meeting, " to get a stable made 
adjoining this meeting house." 

In early times, township meetings assumed the right of enact- 
ing rules and regulations, or rather to make laws, for their re- 
spective townships. Unfortunately but few of the ancient records 
of our townships have been preserved. The following items 
have been extracted from the Darby township book : 

"Agreed that this meeting begin at Eleven o'Clock in the 
forenoon, and that the constable give notice the first day before." 

"And it is also agreed that the said town's meeting be held on 
the third day of the last week in the twelfth month, (yearly) to 
appoint ofiicers for the ensuing year, at which time the ofiicers is 
to give up their accounts." 

" Agreed that none of the inhabitants of this Town take any 
horses or mares either to keep in winter or summer, nor no cattle 
in summer except they keep them within their own fenced lands, 
upon the penalty of five shillings per head for every month." 

, 1 Hundred acres of land. 

2 This meeting house has been torn down within a few years past. Since the 
earliest recollection of "the oldest inhabitant" this building has been pointed out as 
that in which the first Assembly of Pennsylvania held its sittings. That the main 
building was erected by the society of Friends at this period for a meeting-hnuso, on 
a lot that had been purchased by them for that purpose, the evidence is conclusive ; 
and the author has failed to discover that it was used for any other than meeting 
purposes while it continued to be owned by the Society of Friends. 



1694.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. ' 189 

The above extracts are without date, but stand on the record 
immediately above the following. It may therefore be inferred 
that they were enacted at the same, or at an earlier period. 

"Agreed by the Townsmen of Darby at the meeting house, 
upon SG'*^ day of the 12'*' month, 1693-4, [Feb., 1694,] that 
whatever handy- Crafts men shall offer himself to inhabit in the 
township, shall first continue forty days as a sojourner, to have 
the approbation of the said township ; whither he shall be re- 
ceived as an inhabitant or no ; and that no person shall dare to 
receive any stranger as an inhabitant before such probation and 
grant of said Townsmen. 

" Signed on behalf of the Town of Darby, by 

"Tho. Worth." 

" Agreed at a Town meeting 1693-4, That Tho. Worth shall 
as Clerk of the Town, signe all public agreements in behalf of 
the town, and the same shall be as binding as if every mans 
particular hand was at the same." 

The Court proceedings of this year are introduced by imposing 
upon Mary M a fine of "five shillings /or her lying.'' 

A road was laid out "between Radnor meeting house and the 
Schuylkill ford ;" and also one "from John Longworthy's house 
to a road between Chester and Radnor." 

One Philip England claimed the monopoly of the Ferry at 
High street on the Schuylkill, but from some cause, the Friends 
of Haverford Monthly Meeting, with the assistance of some 
Friends of Darby, supported a Ferry in the vicinity of that kept 
by England, and employed a man named Nathaniel MuUinax to 
attend it. England petitioned to the Governor and Council to 
support him in his monopoly, which they eventually did, on the 
ground that the Ferry was the Proprietor's right, a grant of 
which was held by England. The decision of the Governor was 
accompanied by a prohibition against all others " using anie 
other ferrie within foure miles distance on either side of the river, 
of the proprietors ferrie." 

A report made by a Committee of the Council this year, 
giving the amounts raised in the several counties upon an assess- 
ment of Id. per pound, will give some idea of the relative pro- 
gress that had been made in the diiferent counties : 

County of Philadelphia, 
" New Castle, 

". Sussex, 

" Kent, 

" Chester, 

" Bucks, 



£ 


8. 


d. 


314 


11 


11 


143 


15 


00 


101 


01 


09 


88 


02 


10 


65 


00 


07 


48 


04 


01 


£760 


16 


2 



190 ■ HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1695. 

At this time the settlements had spread in Chester County 
but little beyond the territory now included in Delaware County. 

There appear to have been great losses of stock and cattle 
during 1694, from want of provender.^ 

" The want of a Bridle road between the broad road near 
James Brown's house in Chichester [Marcus Hook] and Chiches- 
ter creek and from thence to Chester creek," was presented by 
the Grand .Jury at the March term of 1695. A similar pre- 
sentment had been made at the previous session of the Court. 
The necessity of such a road will be understood, when the reader 
is informed that the King's road did not, up to this time, pass 
through Chester, but crossed both Ridley and Chester Creeks at 
the head of tide ; there being no bridge over the creek at Chester, 
and no public road from thence directly to Marcus Hook. 

The Grand Inquest, after having examined the accounts of 
the county, recommend a levy of a penny in the pound, which 
was ordered by the Court, '•'■for finishing the prison and defray- 
ing of the old debts & for wolves heads ;" also for the relief 
of the poor. The Grand Jury also on this occasion performed 
the duty of County Auditors, and " having examined Jeremiah 
Collet's [the Treasurer's] accounts, finds them to be true ac- 
counts, and finds him to be indebted to the county, the sum of 
eighteen shillings and eleven pence, and the county to be in- 
debted to Thomas Smith the sum of 18 pounds 19s. and 4d." 
The next Grand Jury held a meeting on the 2d of October, to 
consider the affairs of the county. The following interesting 
record of their proceedings is given at length : 

" We the Grand Jury by the King's authority, finding that 
the county is in debt by the accounts that the last Grand Jury 
presented ; that the County Treasurer is out of purse, and others 
in the concerns of the county charge; '^"'^ that the prison is not 
yet finished, and several wolve's he. . to pay for : We the 
Grand Inquest have taken it into our consideration to lay an 
assessment upon the county for to pay the Judges expenses, 
which is to be paid to Joseph Wood, Sheriff of Chester County, 
and what was disbursed by the said Treasurer of said county 
concerning the building of the prison, and to finish the said 
county prison, with as much expedition as may be, and the said 
levy to be raised as followeth : — on all real and personal estates, 
at one penny per pound and three shillings per head on free 
men, (viz) every acre of cleared land, and being in tillage, at 
one pound per acre ; and for every hundred acres of rough land 
by the river, at ten pounds per hundred, and for every hundred 
acres in the woods, at five pounds per hundred ; for all horses 
and mares from three years old and upwards, at 3 pounds ; for 

1 Col. Eec. i. 481. 



1695.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 191 

every colt one year old and upwards, 20 shillings ; for all cows 
and oxen, from three years old and upwards, £2. 10s; for all 
cattle one year old and upwards, at one pound ; for all sheep 
a year old and upwards, at six shillings a piece ; for all male 
negroes, from 16 years old and upwards, to sixty, 25£ per 
negro ; for all female negroes from 16 years old to sixty, at 20X 
per negro ; for Chester mill at one hundred pounds, Joseph Co- 
bourn's at .£50, Darby mill at one hundred pounds, Hartford 
[Ilaverford] mill at 20<£ pounds. Concord mill at 10<£ pounds ; 
Jasper Yeates for his estate and calling 200 pounds, Caleb 
Pusey for his estate and calling 100 pounds, Jeremiah Collett 
for his estate and calling 30 pounds, Nathaniel Newlin for his 
calling 20 pounds ; all ordinary keepers, for their callings, 20 
pounds ; for all handicrafts that followeth no plantation for calling, 
3 shillings a piece. — Subscribed by this present Grand Inquest." 

From the above extract we learn many interesting facts. 
There were five mills in the county at this early date, besides 
the Swedes' mill on the Philadelphia County line. The dates 
of the erection of the Chester mill, and Cobourn's mill have already 
been given ; and a presentment of the Grrand Jury made in 1688, 
shows that the Haverford mill was then erected. This mill was 
on Cobb's Creek, near the place where that stream is crossed by 
the road leading past Haverford meeting-house. Of the Darby 
mill and Concord mill, the author has not met with an earlier 
notice. The Concord mill occupied the site of the mill now 
owned by Samuel Leedom. A mill was shortly afterwards built 
lower down the stream by Nicholas Newlin, but not so low down 
as the mill owned by John Hill,^ 

While it is not presumed that the full value of property is 
given in the assessment, the relative value may be relied on as 
nearly correct. We th"^ see that cleared land, under tillage, 
was ten times as valua.. ^as unimproved land near the river, 
and twenty times as valuable as unimproved lands further 
back, &;c. 

Maurice Trent, before mentioned, brought another set of 
boys into Court to be "judged." Their respective periods of 
servitude were accordingly fixed by the Justices. It had become 
a common practice at this period for servants who had run 
away, or in any other manner caused loss or expense to their 
masters, to be brought into Court for the Justices to determine, 
what additions should be made to their terms of servitude, as 
an equivalent for such loss or expense. 

At this time, there was considerable trade at Chester, and 
also some at Marcus Hook. Hence we find appointments of 

1 From a conveyance made by Randal Malin in 1696, it would appear that a mill 
was erected not far from Bishop's mill about that year. 



192 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1696. 

oflBcers connected with its proper regulation. Edward Dangger 
was this year " attested Geager and Packer and Culler of this 
County of Chester." 

The arbitrary rule of Governor Fletcher, under which Qua- 
kerism found but little favor, continued about two years, when 
the King and Queen were pleased to restore the government of 
the province again to William Penn, very much to the satis- 
faction of the people. The affairs of the Proprietary were not, 
however, in such a condition as to allow him to visit the country, 
and Thomas Lloyd having died, he again commissioned his 
cousin William Markham as his Deputy. 

It came to the knowledge of the Concord and Chichester 
Monthly Meeting, about this time, that two young persons of 
the latter township, were engaged in certain studies and prac- 
tices that, at this period, were regarded as very dangerous. 
The serious gravity with which the subject was treated by the 
meeting is really remarkable. 

" Some friends having a concern upon them concerning some 
young men which came among friends, to their meetings, and 
following some acts which friends thought not fit for such as 
professed the truth, to follow, viz : Astrology and other arts, 
whereupon it was stated to the meeting concerning Astrology and 
other Sciences, as Gteomancy and Chiromancy and Necromancy 
&c. — It was debated and the sence of this meeting is, that the 
study of these sciences brings a veile over the understanding, 
and a death upon the life." — The meeting ordered the young 
men, as well as their father, to be spoken to on the subject. 
The conference with the former is given as follows : 

" Philip Roman and his brother Robert, friends of Chichester, 
was speak'd to about those arts and sciences above said ; they 
seemed to disown that is mentioned except the Astrology. Much 
was said to them, but it was not received. At last they proposed 
to the meeting, if they thought well of it, to confer with Nicho- 
las Newlin and Jacob Chandler, and if they could convince them 
that it was evil, they would leave it." The meeting accepted 
the offer of the young men. At the next meeting (January, 
1696) the committee reported that they had conferred with the 
young men, and there had been "many arguments on both 
sides — at length, Philip concluded with us that he did not know 
that he should use that art of Astrology again, /or he had denied 
several that came to him to he resolved of their questions already. 
Robert promised the same but with this reserve — unless it was 
to do some great good hy it. From which belief of some great 
good, we could not remove him." This was not satisfactory to 
the meeting. Philip was required " to give forth a paper to 
condemn his practice of resolving questions in Astrology, con- 



1696,] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 193 

cerning lost and Gain, with other vain questions." The meeting 
gave out a similar paper against Robert. 

. The subject of these dark practices was also brought before 
the Chester Quarterly Meeting, which body appears to have 
taken a rather rational view of the subject for the times. The 
following is an extract from the preamble of a long testimony 
published by that meeting, early the year 1696. 

" Whereas the meeting being acquainted, that some persons 
under the profession of truth, and belonging to this meeting, 
who professing the art of Astrology, have undertaken thereby 
to answer questions, and give Astrological Judgments concerning 
persons and things, tending to the dishonor of God, and the 
reproach of Truth and the great hurt of themselves and those 
who come to inquire of them ; and Whereas, it is also reported 
that some professing truth among us seems too much inclined 
to use and practice Rahdomancy, or consulting with a staff, and 
such like things, all which have brought a weighty exercise and 
concern upon this meeting, as well because of the reproach, that 
is already brought upon the truth hereby, as also to prevent, as 
much as in us lies, its being further reproached by any among 
us that may attempt to follow the like practices for time to 
come, &c." 

But this business did not end with the meeting. An offence 
so serious as the practice of G-eomancy, could not escape the 
vigilance of the Grand Jury, particularly as the Foreman lived 
in the same neighborhood with the parties. In bringing the 
matter to the notice of the Court they say : 

" We the grand Inquest by the King's authority, presents 
Robert Roman of Chichester for practicing Geomancy according 
to hidden^ and divining by a stick. Walter Martin, 

Foreman." 

With the view of effectually eradicating the evil, it became 
necessary to destroy the implements of mischief by another 
presentment, which is thus recorded : 

"We the Grand Inquest by the Kings authority presents the 
following books : Hidons Temple of Wisdom, which teaches 
Geomancy, and Scots discovery of Witchcraft, and Cornelias 
Agrippas teach Necromancy. Walter Martin, Foreman." 

Upon which " the Court orders as many of said Books as can 
be found be brought to the next court." 

The following minute records the closing scene of this ludic- 
rous judicial procedure : 

" Robert Roman was called to answer the presentment of the 
Grand Jury the last Court ; he appeared and submitted himself 

^ The blank is in the Record. 

13 



194 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1697. 

to the Bench. The order of the Court is that he shall pay five 
pounds for a fine and all charges, and never practice the arts, 
but behave himself well for the future, and he promised to do so, 
whereupon he is discharged for this time." 

Two young men were presented at the next Court " for run- 
ning a horse race on the first day of the week.'' They each 
got off with a fine of 5 shillings, thus proving that the practice 
of G-eomancy in those primitive times was a twenty fold greater 
offence than Sunday horse racing. 

" John Simcock brought in his account. — The County of 
Chester debtor to John Simcock, for balance of his account to 
the year 1695, the sum of ^28 2s. John Simcock debtor to 
the sale^ of the old Court house, the sum of =£57. — By balance 
remains due John Simcock £28 18s." This must have been the 
Court-house erected in 1685, the expense of which does not as 
yet appear to have been fully liquidated, as William Clayton 
makes complaint that " there is due to him £18. Is. Qd. for his 
father's salary and work on the old Court housed Nor is this 
remarkable, as by a presentment of the Grand Jury, it is shown 
that taxes laid on large tracts of land in 1685, for the erection 
of the Court-house and prison, were still due. 

In 1696 a road was laid out " from David Meridiths planta- 
tion to Haverford Meeting house." This road passes White 
Hall and west of Haverford College. The Court orders Ellis 
Ellis, Supervisor of Haverford, to cut and clear the road way, 
"that leads to the limestone hill from Darby through Harford." 

The several meetings composing Chester Quarterly Meeting, 
subscribed £85 8s. 4c?. towards building a meeting-house in the 
city of Philadelphia. The meetings composing Haverford 
Monthly Meeting also subscribed, but the amount is not given. 
The minutes of that meeting show that the location of the meet- 
ing-house to be built in Philadelphia was " in y*^ second street 
near the market place." 

The following minute from the Haverford Records, is the 
authority upon which the Friends' meeting at Newtown was 
established : 

" William Lewis and some other friends having proposed to 
this meeting, to settle a meeting at Newtown, they are left to 
their freedom therein." If is dated 11th mo. 14th 1696 0. S. 
Before the close of the year, Thomas Jones was ordered by the 
meeting "to acquaint friends of Chester Meeting, that the 
meeting lately settled at Newton is done w**" ye consent of this 
meeting, in order to have their approbation therein." 

1 The sale of the old Court-house, as mentioned at this time, appears to have been 
informal. It was sold subsequently in pursuance of an act of Assembly to John 
Simcock, but before the conveyance was made, he died, which made it necessary to 
procure another act of Assembly to confirm the title in Ralph Fishbum, his son-in- 
law and devisee. 



1697.] HISTOKY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 195 

Notwithstanding the Governor and Council, in 1694, sustained 
England in his claim to a monopoly of ferrying people over the 
Schuylkill, the following extract from the Haverford Meeting 
Records shows that this monopoly was not continued by the 
Proprietary's government when rCvStored, and that a ferry was 
again kept up by the monthly meeting. 

" David Evans & Daniel Humphrey are ordered by this meet- 
ing to collect twenty shillings out of each of the meetings of 
Haverford & Radnor and the rest y' are unpaid of the subscrip- 
tion towards t\ie ferry, to pay Nath: Mullenex's wages. "^ 

Notwithstanding this meeting and others occasionally gave 
their attention to secular affairs, there was no falling off by the 
members in the performance of their moral and religious duties. 
It is really wonderful, the amount of patient labor that was be- 
stowed about this period in preserving the Church in its purity ; 
in counselling and advising the rising generation, and in reclaim- 
ing the wayward. And it is even still more wonderful to see 
the large amounts that were appropriated to charitable purposes. 
This was particularly the case among the Welsh Friends. Every 
reasonable want was attended to. If a newly arrived immigrant, 
or a ^'- poor friend" stood in need of a house, it was built for 
him; of a plough or a cow, he was provided with one. The 
fields of the sick and the weak were not allowed to remain un- 
cultivated, and their pecuniary wants and other necessities were 
liberally supplied. Nor was their care in these respects con- 
fined to their own little communities. Wherever suffering 
humanity was found, our Quaker ancestors were ever ready to 
contribute liberally to its relief. 

This year the meetings were made acquainted with the dis- 
tressed condition of the people of New England; "the great 
want and necessity of Friends and others, by reason of the 
Indians making inroads upon them, burning and destroying 
their habitations and the lives of many, and by reason of the 
failing of their crops." The relief afforded was prompt and 
liberal. Haverford Monthly Meeting subscribed X60 14s. lid.; 
Chichester, Concord, and Birmingham, ,£37 5s. ^d. ; and 
Chester, ,£32 2s. lid. The amount subscribed by Darby is not 
given. 

There was a subscription made this year of £86 by the 
Friends of Concord, Birmingham, and Thornbury, towards the 
erection of a meeting-house — it is supposed at the first-mention- 
ed place. The subscription list contains thirty-four names. From 
its heading, it is very apparent that some of the members were 

1 In 1698, there is another minute that shows that the three townships of Haverford, 
Merion, and Radnor, were concerned in this ferry ; and in the minutes of 1699, there 
is a final receipt from Mullenex, which probably closed the connection of the meeting 
with the ferry forever. 



196 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1698. 

imbued with Keithian doctrines. A list of those who con- 
tributed towards fencing the grave-yard is also given. 

As travelling by land increased, the inhabitants of Chester 
felt more strongly the inconvenience of being located at a 
distance from the King's highway — the main thoroughfare of 
travel between the northern and southern Provinces. To bring 
the main road through the town, a bridge over the creek would 
be required, and to secure this object, " several of y*^ Inhabi- 
tants of y® town & countie of Chester & others," presented a 
petition to the Governor and Council. But this petition was 
met by a strong remonstrance, and after the matter had been 
considered in " Grand Committee," that is, a meeting of the 
Council and Assembly together, it was put "to the vote of y® 
s* grand committee, whether a bridge should be built over the 
navigable part of Chester creek, as is petitioned, it was carried 
in the negative, nemine contradicente."^ So ended the matter 
at this time. 

At the July Court, a deed was acknowledged to John Sim- 
cocks, John Blunston, Samuel Levis, Jasper Yeates and Jonathan 
Hayes, the Justices of the County, " for all that piece of land 
whereon the new court house stands, contayning in breadth to 
the street twenty nine foot back to Chester creeke, unto them 
and theyr sucksessors for ever : the deed bearing date the ninth 
day of the fourth month called June An. Dom. 1697."^ 

A road was in 1697 laid out "from Henry Hames, (in 
Marple,) to Haverfoi'd Meeting House." The closing part of 
the report of the Grand Jury in laying out this road is rather 
remarkable for the evanescent character of the land marks they 
j&xed on to identify the route they selected. When they ap- 
proach the meeting-house they say: "running up the said line 
betwixt William Howell and David Lawrence — making the 
fence the middle of the road till it comes to the fence ivhere we 
pulled downe, and so to the meeting house where we end." 

Andrew Job, Foreman. 

There was also a cart-way reported, " for the convenience of 
the county, from the corner of Walter Faucetts fence to Darby." 
This is the first laying out of the king's highway between the 
points mentioned. 

The number of servants brought into Court to be "Judged," 
has greatly increased. More than thirty were brought to a 
single Court. In some instances the Justices direct that they 
shall be taught to read and write. 

The Justices were exceedingly strict in seeing the law enforced 

1 Ccl. Rec. i. 488-493. 

'•^ This is the lot now owned and occupied hy Frederick Fairlamb, Esq. It is 
known as the " old prison" lot. — See Appendix, Note H. 



1698.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 19T 

against persons who failed to comply with the legal enactments 
on the subject of marriage. In one case, the Grand Jury pre- 
sented the parties and all the witnesses, and in another case one 
Matthew Risley was sentenced to receive thirteen lashes for at- 
tempting to marry persons contrary to law, although it was 
proven on the trial that it was a joke practiced on him — the 
parties being both men. 

Corporal punishment is becoming more common. A man was 
sentenced to receive thirty lashes on his bare back, well laid on, 
for the larceny of one bushel of wheat. 

A Grand Jury, of which George Pearce was foreman, made a 
presentment against a law that took the business of levying taxes 
out of their hands and placed it in the hands of six Assessors. 
They desired " that the six Assessors might be laid aside, and 
that the Grand Jury, which are the body of the county, may 
have the order of such things as formerly." 

A Provincial Court is occasionally held at Chester. At one 
held in October, 1698, before which there was but one case, John 
Moore appeared as counsel for the ^'•Appellant,'' and David 
Lloyd for the '^^ Appellee." 

In the appraisement of 700 acres of land, situated in Provi- 
dence, taken in execution by the Sheriff, it will be seen how little 
land had improved in price, independently of the improvements. 
The land was valued at X80 ; " One house, barn, orchard nursery 
and Garding at X160 ;" and the wheat in the ground at <£18. 

Haverford Monthly Meeting now appears to be disposed to 
get rid of the municipal concerns with which it has heretofore 
been burdened. To accomplish this object, it was concluded by 
the meeting " that there be a towns meeting held at Haverford 
to regulate matters and decide controversies, the first third day 
of the third month, for the townships belonging to this monethly 
meeting, & then to appoint meetings & adjourn the same as they 
think convenient." The minutes of these town meetings have 
not been discovered. 

The monthly meeting has been constantly held at Haverford 
since the erection of the meeting-house at that place. Now it is 
agreed to let the monthly meeting alternate among the several 
meetings composing it, viz : Merion, Haverford and Radnor. It 
still retained the name of "Haverford Monthly Meeting." 

The Friends of the Quarterly Meeting of Chester County 
became dissatisfied " that some Welsh Friends live within their 
county, and yet join with friends of y® county of Philadelphia in 
their monthly and Quarterly meetings." John Bevan, William 
Howell, Row. Ellis and Rees Thomas were appointed by the 
Haverford meeting " to remind them of the conclusion made 
betwixt them & the Welsh friends, that their meetings should 



198 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1699. 

not be separated." This effort of the Friends of the Chester 
Quarterly Meeting failed, and the meetings that then composed 
the Haverford Monthly Meeting have remained attached to the 
Philadelphia Quarter to this day.^ 

The Keithian doctrines had found more favor in the meetings 
that composed Concord Monthly Meeting than in any others 
located in the county. There was one disownment by that 
meeting in 1698 of a prominent member, expressly on that 
ground, and the minutes furnish evidence that others had quietly 
separated from the Society without any formal disownment. 
Some of these subsequently returned, made an acknowledgment 
of their error, and were restored to their former standing in the 
Society. This was also the case in other meetings, but not to so 
great an extent. 

In Darby Meeting, a father having unreasonably refused his 
consent to the marriage of his daughter, the couple, after having 
made legal publication of their intentions, went before John 
Blunston, a Justice of the Peace, and also a member of meeting 
in high standing, and were legally married.^ The parties, and 
the father of the bride, were dealt with by the meeting, but the 
part taken by the magistrate was not called in question as being 
an offence against the rules of the Society. 

The practice of holding preparative meetings by the Society 
of Friends here, commenced about this time. 

In the minutes of Darby Meeting for 1699 there are several 
entries in respect to the building of a new meeting-house. At 
length it was agreed " that a meeting house sixty foot one way 
and twenty foot added to the side 21 foot wide in the cleare be 
built." A portion of this meeting-house is still standing, inside 
of the grave-yard at Darby.^ 

The young people among Friends were very mucb restricted 
in these early times in the matter of courtship and marriage. 
The meeting at Haverford ordered, "that all young men among 
friends make known their intentions to their parents or guardians 
before they acquaint y^ young woman's relations, and to make it 
known unto the woman's parents or Guardians, before they speak 
to them, and if any do otherwise, that they shall condemn the 
same before they proceed any farther. * * *" About the same 
restrictions, it is believed, prevailed generally in the Society. 

David Lloyd presented a petition to the Council, setting forth 

1 In the year 1700 this question was formally brought by the Chester Quarterly 
Meeting before the Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting, but the latter decided to retain 
the Welsh meetings, though situated in Chester County 

'^ The certificate of this marriage is recorded at West Chester, in Deed Book A, i. 
223. 

3 A loan was authorized the next year to complete this meeting-house — an expedient 
rarely resorted to by the Society of Friends, 



1699.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 199 

that lie had purchased a small parcel of land at Chester, " called 
the Green, w"'' Lyes very commodious for building a town. It 
fronts to both Chester Creek & delaware river, and is protracted, 
& a market place Laid out, with Streets by y Surveyor General, 
as by the mapp to the said petition annex't appears."^ He asked 
the board " to allow and confirm the s^ model as the law in that 
case directs." But in this he was opposed by Jasper Yeates, who 
regarded the Green as church land, and was unwilling that David 
Lloyd should " obtain an act of Assembly to strengthen a pre- 
tended title of his to the green Lying before Upland." So the 
matter rested for the present. 

The inhabitants of Chichester [Marcus Hook] this year peti- 
tioned the Council, " requesting a weeklie markett & two fairs in 
the year ; after a full debate y^'upon, The Leivt. Gor & Council 
granted y"' a weeklie market on fridays, to be kept in Broad 
street as is desired." 

Edward Shippen, Cornelius Emptson, and William Biles, as 
Judges, held a Provincial Court this year at Chester, assisted by 
the County Justices. After John Moore and David Lloyd, as 
attorneys, had had " several debates about the cause depending," 
the parties " referred the matter wholly to three Judges on the 
benches as arbitrators," the parties to be bound by the decision, 
which was immediately made. 

At the June Court, Joseph Edge, the Constable of Chester, 
presented Henry Barnes, " for calling our Governor Penn a 
Rogue," &c., &c. The rest of the constables returned "all was 
well." For very many years, after this date, the same return 
was made, when a constable had no breach of the peace to re- 
port. It was also a practice to read the newly enacted laws, in 
open Court, immediately after the Grand Jury was called. 

The last road laid out by a Grand Jury was from the neigh- 
borhood of Birmingham and Thornbury to Joseph Cobourn's 
mill and Caleb Pusey's mill, the report of which was made to the 
June Court. The same Court made the first appointment of six 
viewers to lay out a road in the manner now practiced. The 
appointment was to lay out "a convenient cart road," for 
Robert Smith of Darby. 

The Court ordered, " that two supervisors, to witt, Thomas Fox 
of Darby, and Matthias Morton of Ridlye, to make good that 
new road from Walter Fawcet's fence to Darby, sixty foot wide." 

If the people of Chester did fail in obtaining permission to 
build a bridge over the creek, they were determined to divert 
some share of the travel of the King's road through their town. 

1 This map has not been found. For the conveyance of this land to David Lloyd, 
the written assent of the Swedish congregation of Crane Hook to the sale, and an 
extract of the indemnifying bond given on the occasion, see Appendix, Note K, 



200 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1700. 

With this view, Ralph Fishbourne exhibited to the October 
Court of 1699 a petition, " with many hands of the inhabitants 
of the County for a convenient road way from the west side 
of Chester Creek, where the ferry is to be kept, for to lead to the 
now King's road. The Court accordingly appointed six viewers 
" for to go and lay out the said road way in the most convenient 
place they can for the conveniency of the Inhabitants." 

That dreadful scourge, the yelloiv fever, prevailed in the city of 
Philadelphia in 1699, producing the greatest consternation and 
alarm among the people.^ The September Court at Chester ad- 
journed without transacting any business, and though the cause 
is not given on the record, it may reasonably be inferred, that 
the malady had made its appearance at that place. After a very 
protracted voyage, William Penn arrived in the Province with 
his wife and family, with the avowed intention of ending his days 
in Pennsylvania. He landed at Philadelphia in the beginning 
of November, after the ravages of the fever had ceased. 

When proceeding up the Delaware, Penn left the vessel, and 
spent one night at the house of Lydia, the widow of Robert 
Wade, in company with Thomas Story, who had recently.arrived 
from a religious visit to Virginia. Before proceeding to the ves- 
sel in the morning, he crossed over to the east side of the creek 
in a boat, "and as he landed, some young men officiously, and 
contrary to express orders of some of the Magistrates, fired two 
small sea pieces of cannon, and being ambitious to make three 
out of two, by firing one twice, one of them darting in a cart- 
ridge of powder, before the piece was sponged, had his left arm 
shot to pieces ; upon which, a surgeon being sent for, an ampu- 
tation took place. "^ 

After the government was restored to Penn, a new Constitu- 
tion had been adopted under the administration of Markham, 
which was not satisfactory to the Proprietary. An entirely new 
Council was elected ; and from Chester County, David Lloyd was 
returned for three years, Caleb Pusey for two, and John Simcock 
for one year. Many new laws were passed shortly after the 
arrival of the Proprietary, which were duly read at the opening 
of the March Court at Chester. 

Ralph Fishbourn now appears as a Justice, and Henry Hol- 
lingsworth as Clerk of the Court. In a prosecution for highway 
robbery, John Moore appeared as attorney for the King. 

That everlasting subject, the Court-house and Prison, again 
claimed the attention of the Court and Grand Jury, who or- 
dered them to " be forthwith repaired for a present necessity 
***** that the two back-rooms in the prison be arched over 
with a brick in length, and be furnished with sufficient doors, 

1 Proud's Hist. Penna. i. 421. ^ Clarkson, ii. 163. 



1700.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 201 

and the whole prison to be laid over with beams close together, 
and planked on the top of them." Provision was also made for 
a pair of stocks and a whipping-post: all to be at the county's 
charge. 

The Justices appoint "four substantial Freeholders," as As- 
sessors to assist them in levying the necessary taxes; but the 
duty now performed by Assessors was then performed by the 
Constables, while the Justices and Assessors supplied the place 
of County Commissioners of the present day. 

Among the presentments of the Grand Jury was that " 

did fraudulently expose peces of lead and potshards 

unto John Stubbs of this county for current silver of the Pro- 
vince." 

The Court and Grand Jury authorized a levy towards the close 
of this year of 3d. in the pound, and 12 shillings poll tax. In 
anticipation of this duty, three of the Grand Jurors, though 
present, refused to serve, and submitted to a fine of 20 shillings 
each ; it being understood that the tax was for the defence of the 
Province. This tax amounted to =£325, and was laid by the 
Assemblymen and Assessors of the county, in pursuance of a law 
lately enacted at New Castle. 

What is now known as " the old end" of Haverford Meeting- 
house, was built this year, at an estimated cost of =£158. It was 
built as an addition to a former meeting-house, which was re- 
placed by the present "new end" in the year 1800 — one century 
afterwards. The old meeting-house was without a chimney, 
being warmed by a kind of stove, or furnace, placed on each side 
of the building, and supplied with fuel from the outside of the 
house. Only the top of these stoves were of iron, and the smoke 
escaped by flues opening on the outside of the wall, a few feet 
above the opening through which the fuel was introduced. Part 
of this arrangement is yet conspicuous in the walls of the old 
meeting-house. 

Clarkson records the attendance of Penn at a general meeting of 
the Welsh Quakers at Haverford — doubtless in their then newly 
erected meeting-house. If tradition is to be relied on, a goodly 
number of our Welsh ancestors were so little acquainted with 
the English language, that they were unable to understand the 
sermon preached by the Proprietary. 

On another visit to Haverford, an anecdote is recorded of the 
Proprietary. A little girl named Rebecca Wood, was walking 
from Darby, where she resided, to Haverford Meeting, when 
Penn, who was on horseback, overtook her, and inquired where 
she was going. Upon being informed, " he with his usual good 
nature, desired her to get up behind him ; and bringing his horse 
to a convenient place, she mounted, and so rode away upon the 



202 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1700. 

bare back, and being without shoes or stockings, her bare legs 
& feet hung dangling by the side of the Governor's horse. "^ 

From the first settlement of the country up to this time, dis- 
ownments from the Society of Friends were very rare. The 
first minuted loss of membership in Chester Monthly Meeting, 
occurs this year. By repeated visits, and patient, careful and 
judicious management, nearly every offender was reclaimed and 
restored to his former standing in the Society. Some thus re- 
stored by careful dealing, afterwards became the pillars of the 
Church. The growth of the Society now appears to be rapid, 
both in numbers and means ; new meetings are being established 
and new meeting-houses erected. In 1699 a new meeting-house 
was proposed to be erected " by the Friends belonging to Thomas 
Minchall's meeting, at the burying ground by Thomas Powell's." 
This burying ground is now known as Sandy Bank. The com- 
mittee appointed to fix the site of the meeting-house, decided 
that, "the farther end of Thomas Minshall's land by the high 
road side," was the best location. Thomas Minshall donated an 
acre of land for the purpose and the meeting-house was erected 
and ready for use this year. It occupied the present site of 
Providence Meeting-house.^ 

Early this year a committee fixed a site " for a meeting house, 
for friends of John Bowater's Meeting ***** upon 
the land or lot belonging to the meeting's burying place." This 
is the site of the old meeting-house in Middletown. The house 
proposed to be built may not have been completed before the 
next year. 

A meeting-house was also erected at Springfield this year for 
the accommodation of the meeting that had been held at the 
house of Bartholomew Coppock. It is not known that it was 
occupied earlier than the 26th of the 3d month (May), 1701, 
when Chester Monthly Meeting was held there.^ 

Evidence of the existence of Episcopalian organizations within 
the limits of our county, now begins to dawn upon us. In the 
History of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
Foreign parts, we are told that " the Swedes and Dutch settled 
in this Province [Pennsylvania] had some ministers among them, 
but the English had none, till the year 1700 ; when the Rever- 
end Mr. Evans was sent over to Philadelphia by Bishop Comp- 
ton." After describing the labors and success of Mr. Evans, 
the author goes on to say, that " a hearty love and zeal for Re- 

1 Clarkson, ii. 178, as taken from Sutcliff. 

2 Thomas Powell had discontinued his membership with Friends, and had become 
an active Episcopalian. 

3 A draft found among the papers of Isaac Taylor, the surveyor, made in 1702-3, 
shows that this meeting-house, which was doubtless built of logs, stood in what is now 
the grave-yard, and fronted on the road leading to Darby. 



1701.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 203 

ligion spread so wide, that there arose soon several congregations, 
in other parts of the country ; Mr. Evans was forced to divide his 
labours among them, as often as he conveniently could, till they 
might be formed into Proper Districts, and the ministers sent 
over to them." 

" He went frequently to Chichester, Chester and Concord, to 
Montgomery and Radnor, each about 20 miles distant from Phi- 
ladelphia, and to Maidenhead in West Jersey, 40 miles distant. 
This travelling was both fatiguing and expensive, yet he fre- 
quently visited those places, being determined by all means, to 
lose none of those he had gained. But Montgomery and Radnor, 
next to Philadelphia had the most considerable share in his 
labors." There is no notice of a church edifice at either of the 
places named, except Philadelphia. Mr. Evans was, in part, 
supported by the Royal bounty of King William and not at all 
by the Society.^ 

Since the establishment of a mill at Darby, the Swedes' mill 
appears to have attracted less attention. A conveyance^ made 
this year by the widow of Neals Laerson, and her son, Andrew 
Friend, of one twenty-third part of this mill and appurtenant 
land, to William Cobb, shows that it had been held by a joint- 
stock company of S»vedes. Having passed into the hands of 
William Cobb,, the creek on which the mill was located, after a 
time, acquired his name. 

The people of the town of Chichester [Marcus Hook], were 
not satisfied without the privilege of holding a Fair which, it 
appears they had enjoyed under the Administration of Governor 
Markham. "Because some complaints had been made against 
Fairs in general," the grant of a Fair to Chichester was made 
by the Council conditionally ; it was to be suppressed when the 
Government thought fit to suppress others. 

The people of the town of Chester concluded that this grant 
of a Fair to Chichester was intended to supersede one of the two 
Annual Fairs that their town had enjoyed for about eleven years, 
under a grant from the Governor and Council. Upon applica- 
tion a Fair, in the usual course, was ordered to be held, and the 
privilege of holding two Annual Fairs and a Weekly Market, 
was soon afterwards confirmed to the inhabitants of Chester by 
a charter from the Governor.^ 

It is exceedingly difficult fully to comprehend the action of the 

1 See p. 148 of that Hist. 

2 Recorder's Office, West Chester. 

^ The safety of both Chester and Darhy from accidents by fire was provided for by 
legal enactment. Persons were not permitted to set their chimneys on fire to cleanse 
them, nor to suffer them " to become so foul as to take fire and blaze out at the top." 
Every housekeeper was obliged "to keep, in his or her house, a swab, at least 12 or 14 
feet long, as also two leather buckets." 



204 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1701. 

Court and Grand Jury on the subject of Court-houses and prisons, 
from the conrimencement of Penn's government down to this pe- 
riod. After much study and research the author has embodied 
his conclusions thereon, which will be found in the Appendix, 
Note H. 

At the March Court, it was " ordered by the Justices and 
Grand Jury, that the old court house be set on sale the 6th day 
of the 3d month next, and in order thereto, papers be set up to 
give notice that it is to be sold at vandew."^ And at the same 
Court, in respect to a prison, it was " ordered that Jasper Yeates, 
Ralph Fishbourn, Joseph Cobourn and Andrew Jobe be supervi- 
sors for the building of a new prison upon the ground bought of 
James Sanderland, and we order them to imploy workmen & 
to provide materials for performing and carrying on the said 
work, and the said Supervisors are empowered to receive the 
levy from the collectors as they are raised and to pay the work- 
men and to do all things material for the said work ; and they 
are to build the said house 25 foot long and 18 foot wide in the 
clear, or thereabouts, as they see cause — the said house to front 
high street, and at the north corner of the ground." 

At the October Court, "James Sandiland by his attorney, 
David Lloyd, delivered a deed to John Blunston, Caleb Pusey, 
Ralph Fishborn, Robert Pile and Philip Roman for a piece of 
land being 120 foot square in the township of Chester," for 
which land, the grantees at the same time delivered a declara- 
tion of trust, showing that the purchase was for the use of the 
county. At the same Court, it was agreed by the Justices and 
Grand Jury '■Ho repair the court house with all possible speed, 
and they appoint Walter Martin, John Hoskin and Henry 
Worley to be supervisors and oversee the work and to agree 
with workmen, provide materials and finish the said work with 
all expedition, and to provide a pair of stocks and whipping 
post." 

Eastown was organized as a township this year. 

The new roads laid out have become so numerous, and the re- 
ports of their location so indefinite, that a further notice of them 
would prove tedious. It will therefore be omitted, except in 
very particular cases. 

The tax laid for the support of the Government was very 
unpopular. So much so that the constables returned that the 
inhabitants were unwilling to pay or delayed payment, where- 
upon it was ordered by the Court " that a warrant be issued to 
the SheriflFto collect the said levy." 

The establishment of Newtown meeting by Haverford Monthly 
Meeting has already been mentioned. This was not regarded 

1 This sale was made to John Simcock, and was to legalize a former sale to him. 



1701.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 205 

with favor by the Chester Quarterly Meeting which had con- 
sidered the connection of Haverford and Radnor Meetings with 
Philadelphia as an innovation on its appropriate jurisdiction. 
Complaint was at once made, first to Haverford, then to the 
Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting, and finally to the Yearly Meet- 
ing, which decided, " that Newtown Meeting may remain as it 
is, and may belong to Philadelphia ; but for the future the Welsh 
Friends are not to set up any more meetings in the county of 
Chester without the consent of (Chester) Quarterly Meeting." 

The Welsh settlements had extended into Goshen and the 
Haverford Monthly Meeting had already authorized or were 
about to authorize a meeting to be held there. The decision of 
the Yearly Meeting made it necessary for the Goshen Friends to 
make application to the Chester Quarterly Meeting, which was 
accordingly done, and permission was obtained in the following 
year, to have a meeting at Goshen, " every other first day." 

Notwithstanding the jurisdiction over the Goshen Friends 
could no longer be claimed by the Haverford Monthly Meeting, 
the members of that meeting for a long time continued to extend 
a tender care over them, to supply their wants and to unite with 
them in their meetings. Even the next year the Friends of 
Haverford Meeting contributed £16 9s. 8d. to aid Robert Wil- 
liam of Goshen in building a house, he having received Friends 
"kindly and open hearted," and keeping the meeting in his 
house. ^ At the same time <£12 5s. 2d. was contributed to Cad- 
walader Ellis and brother, also of Goshen, "whose house had 
been burned by fire, and his mother and brother having lost most 
they had." These acts of kindness, taken in connection with a 
common ancestry and language, produced a more familiar and 
friendly intercourse between the Goshen Friends and those of 
Haverford Monthly Meeting, than existed between them and the 
monthly meeting to which they formally belonged. 

The name of Marcus Hook had been changed to Chichester by 
Gov. Markham and his Council before the first arrival of the 
Proprietary. Upon petition of the inhabitants of the venerable 
town, the Governor by letters patent, confirmed the name of 
Chichester, and granted to the people of the place the usual 
privileges enjoyed by Boroughs. As this curious document has 
never been published it is given in the Appendix, note E. 

Gov. Penn received intelligence from England which compelled 
him to embrace the earliest opportunity to return. The crown 
had become jealous of its Proprietary governments in America, 
and desired to convert them into regal ones. For this purpose, 

1 Goshen Meeting originated from the meetings held at this house. It stood about 
one mile east of the present meeting-house. Its proprietor, Robt. William, was 
familiarly known as "the King of Goshen." 



206 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1702. 

a bill had been introduced into Parliament, and was only post- 
poned at the earnest solicitation of the friends of Penn, until he 
should return. This rendered his early departure necessary, 
and he accordingly sailed from Philadelphia on the 1st of No- 
vember, 1701. He never returned to Pennsylvania. 

A very unpopular act was passed this year in the shape of a 
law directing all located lands to be re-surveyed at the expense 
of the Proprietary — he exacting 'payment for all surplusage, which 
was found to be great in this county. 

Before leaving, Penn by letters patent, established a Council 
of State, composed of ten members, of whom Caleb Pusey and 
John Blunston were from this county. He also appointed 
Andrew Hamilton, one of the proprietors of East Jersey, deputy 
Governor. 

The boundary line between the counties of Chester and New 
Castle had only been temporarily established. A warrant was 
granted in 1701 to run the circular line, directed to Isaac 
Taylor of Chester county, and Thomas Pierson of New Castle 
county.^ The running of this circular line was no easy task. 
The cost was imposed on the two counties instead of the Pro- 
vince, and to judge from the following report of the Grand Jury 
on the subject, it may be concluded that the worthy surveyors 
were not overpaid. 

" We the Grand Jury from this County, having duly con- 
sidered and carefully adjusted an account of charges contracted 
by running a circular line dividing this County from the County 
of New Castle and settling the boundaries, and having duly 
and deliberately debated, every article of the said account, do 
allow the sum of twenty six pounds nine shillings due, to be 
paid by this County for said work. 

James CouPEK, Foreman." 

Notwithstanding the Court and Grand Jury last year directed 
that the Court-house should be repaired " with all possible 
speed," we find the Grand Jury of this year presenting "the 
necessity of a Court house, and that all such as have not paid 
their levy, may be forced." They also added, that in case of 
emergency, for the speedy perfection of said work, " we the 
Grand Jury request that the Justices take care to raise money 
as the law directs, for we are sensible that law and justice can- 
not have its perfect course without such houses for their distri- 
bution as aforesaid." No new Court-house, however, was erected 
till 1724. 

From the presentments of the Grand Jury and orders made 
by the Court from time to time, it appears that the Court-house was, 

1 Recorder's office, Philadelphia, Book C. 2. No. 3. 



1702.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 207 

on this occasion only repaired, and that a new jail was erected, 
the latter occupying the site, it is believed, of the building last 
usfid as a jail in Chester, and may have been part of that build- 
ing. It will be seen hereafter, that at this period there was 
still a building known as the "old Court house." 

Several roads were laid out this year. Among the number 
was one from "Limestone Hill to Springfield meeting House." 

Among the numerous presentments' made by the Grand Jury, 
there are several for neglecting to keep the roads in repair. 
Thus, the townships of Chester, Ridley and Darby are presented 
"for neglecting to repair the Great road between Chester and 
the Philadelphia County line, & for want of convenient bridges 
over the creeks." They also request that care be taken for a 
bridge " over Mill Creek, that parts this County from Philadel- 
phia. In respect to the width of roads, the Court made the 
following order which does not appear to have been enforced : 

" Ordered, that all Cart roads, laid out by order of Court, 
and allowed, shall be fifty feet broad, as the two roads laid out 
from Upper and Nether Providence to Darby and Caleb's mill,^ 
and all others." 

An Episcopal church was established this year on the site 
now occupied by St. Martin's church at Marcus Hook. Walter 
Martin, a well known inhabitant of Chichester, by a singular 
deed of gift, in the year 1699 conveyed to the inhabitants of 
Chichester an acre of ground for a church or free burying place ; 
the inhabitants to build a church, chapel, or meeting-house, to 
the honor and service of God, " Quakers or reputed Quakers 
only excepted." 

The privilege of securing the lot by the erection of a church 
edifice, was confined to such as owned "the two ordinances of the 
Sacraments of baptism, and the Lord's Supper, viz : water 
baptism, that is by sprinkling or dipping ; and the Lord's 
Supper of bread and wine ; and such as own the resurrection of 
the bodies of the dead, and own the ordinances of singing of 
psalms in the praise of God in the Congregation or in their 
families, and such as own the taking an oath on the Bible 
according to the laws of England, if lawfully called thereto for 
the confirmation of the truth. "^ 

A record in the vestry-book of St. Martin's church shows 
that the lot was secured to the Episcopalians by " Sundry 
persons, adventurers from England, Scotland, and Ireland, into 
the Province of Pennsylvania, being well principled in and 
affected to the pure Apostolick and primitive doctrine and disci- 

1 That is, Caleb Pusey's mill or Chester mill. It is frequently called Caleb's mill in 
the Court Record. 

^ Recorder's office, West Chester, Book A, No. 1. 



208 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1702. 

pline of the truly Episcopal and Protestant Church of England," 
who purchased, in 1702, an old frame house from Jane and 
Tobias Hendrickson, for about £5, and removed it upon the lot 
conveyed by Walter Martin for a church yard. It was fitted up 
for divine worship the same year.^ 

The evidence in respect to the time of the erection of St. 
Paul's Church at Chester is somewhat contradictory. In one 
account, contained in the History of the " Society for Propa- 
gating the Gospel in Foreign parts," the church is represented 
as having been completed in 1702, while a letter from the con- 
gregation to the Society, written in 1704, and contained in the 
same book, may be construed to mean that it was " not then 
quite finished." >See Appendix Note F, for an account of the 
establishment of this church and the other early Episcopal 
Churches of the Bounty. 

Gwynedd or North Wales, East of the Schuylkill, was set- 
tled with a later immigration of Welsh people than those 
who had settled Merion, Haverford, and Radnor. Many of 
them were relatives or personal friends of the earlier settlers of 
the three townships, and being Quakers, they at once united with 
them in their meeting aifairs. The Gwynedd friends now appear 
at the Haverford Monthly-Meeting, as representing an indepen- 
dent preparative meeting in connection with it. A first day meet- 
ing, for six months is also established at Plymouth by the Haver- 
ford Monthly Meeting. In the following year Plymouth Meeting 
was also established as a preparative meeting. 

A great difiiculty had occurred among Friends in respect to 
the payment of a levy authorized for the support of Govern- 
ment. Many of them had refused to pay, on the ground, it is 
supposed, that some part of the money would be appropriated to 
military purposes. The matter was at length brought before 
the Chester Quarterly Meeting, which body, after due con- 
sideration, and the avowal that the Society " have been always 
ready and willing to assist and support civil government," did 
order " that all be advised not to refuse the paying any levys 
lawfully demanded ; and if any be stubborn and not take 
advice by their brethren, that they be speedily dealt with, and 
truth kept clear." 

The decision of the yearly meeting, in respect to Newtown 
Meeting, excluded the Haverford Monthly Meeting from extend- 
ing its jurisdiction over any other meetings in Chester County. 
Upon application, the Chester Quarterly Meeting now authorizes 
the Friends of Goshen to establish a meeting " every other first 
day at the house of Griffith Jones." 

" Chester [preparative] Meeting, proposeth their intentions of 

1 Article in Del. Co. Republican, Feb. 10, 1860. 



1702.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 209 

purchasing in the town, which this meeting approves of, provided 
they preserve and keep in good order the old Burying place.'' 

King William died on the 18th of January, 1702, but it was 
not till the 10th of July that his successor, the Princess Anne, of 
Denmark, was proclaimed at Philadelphia as Queen of England. 

But the most important event of the year was the legislative 
separation of the three lower Counties from the Province. Be- 
fore leaving the country, Penn had given his reluctant assent to 
this separation, to take place at any time within three years. 
It was now accomplished, very much against the wishes of 
Governor Hamilton. From this time the separation was final. 

It appears from the following Warrant of Survey, the original 
of which is filed in the Surveyor General's Office, that up to 
about the time William Penn returned to England, a tribe of 
Indians, known as the Okekockings, were seated within the 
present limits of Delaware County. 

/ L_ g \ "By the Commissioners of Property." 

-^ws^ Whereas Pokias, Sepopawny Muttagooppa and 
others of y® nation called y^ Okehocking Indians in Chester 
County with their families upon their Removal from their late 
settlem'' near Ridley and Crum Creeks, have by the Proprietors 
ord"" and appointm' been seated on another certain tract in y® 
said county, and on the said Ridley creek, neare y^ head 
thereof formerly surveyed to Griffith Jones, but by him left and 
acquitted & now belonging to y^ Proprietary : In which place 
the said Indians request we would grant them a certain settlem' 
under sure metes and Bounds, to them and their posterity in 
pursuance of the Proprietors engagem' in that case made 
before his Departure, who granted them, as 'tis credibly 
affirmed to us, five hundred acres in y** s** place ; These there- 
fore are in pursuance of the said Grant to authorize & require 
thee to survey and lay out to the said Pokhais, Sepopawny, 
Muttagooppa and others of y'' s** nation called y® Okekocking 
Indians who were lately seated lower on y® s** creeks & their 
Relations and to no other whatsoever the full quantity of five 
hundred acres of land in one square tract in such place within 
the aforesaid tract as the s*^ Indians shall desire : which said 
five hundred acres we do hereby grant to the said Pokhais, 
Sepopawny, Muttagooppa and others of the s** nation called the 
Okehocking Indians, who were lately seated as aforesaid and to 
their Relations & to no other, whatsoever, to have and to hold 
to them the said Indians for a Settlem* and to their posterity of 
the same nation of Indians (and no other) forever, Provided 
14 



210 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1703. 

alwayes that the s** Indians, nor any of them shall not give 
Grant or attempt to sell or any way dispose of any of the said 
five hundred acres of land hereby granted to any p son what- 
soever, But at such time as the s*^ Indians shall quitt or leave 
the said place, it shall be surrendered to y" Proprietary without 
any further claim of the s^ Indians or any person whatsoever by 
or under them, their title or procurem*, and make returns into 
the General Surveyor's oJGSce. Given under our hands and the 
seal of the Province at Philadelphia the 15"^ of y^ 10*^ mo. 1702. 

Edwd: Shippen 
" To Isaac Taylor Griffith Owen 

Surveyor of the County Tho. Story 

of Chester. James Logan." 

This tract to which the Indians were removed, is located in 
the township of Willistown, in the present County of Chester.^ 

Early in 1703, Governor Hamilton died. The Council, 
with Edward Shippen as its President, administered the affairs 
of the Government till the end of the year, when John Evans, 
the newly appointed Governor, arrived. 

Upon the petition of Humphrey Ellis, Daniel Lewis, and fifty- 
eight others, " the principal inhabitants of y^ Welsh Tract," to the 
Council, Samuel Richardson, David Lloyd, Rowland Ellis, Wm. 
Howell, Wm. Jenkins, and Richard Thomas, were appointed to 
view certain roads that had been laid out, and " to lay out and 
survey one direct road of fifty foot in breadth, as convenient in 
all respects as may be, both to y" inhabitants and settlers of y^ 
interjacent lands & travellers. Leading from Willm. Powell's 
ferry, on Schuykill & passing Haverford meeting House to y* 
principal part of Goshen Township, and thence continued in a 
direct course to ^^ upper settlements on Brandywine" * * 

The laying out of this road indicates that the settlements 
were rapidly progressing westward. This is corroborated by 
the additional fact, that the Friends of Goshen were sufficiently 
numerous to erect a meeting-house this year, at which the 
quarterly meeting ordered a meeting to be kept every first day, 
except the last first day in every 10th, 1st, 4th, and 7th months, 

1 See map of early settlements for the boundary of this tract. The following 
minute of the Commissioners of Property, under date of 7th & 8th 10th mo. 1702, 
throws some additional light on the subject of the removal of these Indians : " The 
Ockanickon or Crum creek Ind°^ having removed from their old habitation before the 
propys departure by his order seated by Caleb Pusey, Nicolas Pyle, NatW Newlin &, 
Jos. Baker on the tract in Chester county formerly laid out to Griffy Jones, but now 
vacant — " 

" But the s<i Indi's expressing great uneasiness at the uncertainty of their settle- 
ments, pressed and several times urged the neighboring Friends, that they might be 
confirmed in some particular place, under certain metes and bounds, that they might 
no more [be] like dogs, as they expressed themselves." 



1703.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 211 

at which times it was ordered "to be kept, at David Jones' at 
Whiteland in the Great Valley." There was also a meeting 
ordered to be kept at " the Groshen meeting house" every sixth 
day. The " Goshen meeting house,'' here referred to, is the 
meeting place at Robert Williams, as will be seen hereafter. 
The next year the Whiteland Meeting was discontinued, and 
ordered to be held at " Robert Williams in Goshen." 

Although a meeting-house had been erected at Springfield 
for some time, the deed for the ground (two acres) was not de- 
livered till 1703. It was conveyed by Bartholomew Coppock, Jr. 

The earliest record that has come under the notice of the 
author, in which a burying-place at Chester is mentioned, 
(other than that of the Quakers,) is the will of John Johnson 
[Jan Jansen] " of Markes Creek," dated 1684-5. He desires to be 
buried "in Chester alias Upland."^ The testator was a Dutch- 
man, and doubtless an Episcopalian, and hence it may be 
inferred, that the burying-place mentioned was one belonging to 
an organized congregation of Episcopalians at Chester. But 
the fact that the testator designates the burying-place by the 
name of the totvn, and not by that of the church, is very strong, 
though not conclusive evidence^ that no church edifice had been 
erected at the time of making this will ; and that the establish- 
ment of an Episcopal burying-place at Chester, by that Society, 
preceded the erection of a church edifice, of any kind, many 
years. 

The ground at Chester, known in ancient times as " The 
Green," was church land, but it belonged to the Swedes. It was 
much nearer the river than St. Paul's Church. The Swedes 
never had a church at Chester, and the fact, that in parting with 
their church lands at that place, they make no reservation of a 
burying place, is most satisfactory evidence that no part of 
these lands had been appropriated to the interment of the dead. 
From all the facts and circumstances that have come to the know- 
ledge of the author, he has arrived at the conclusion that the 
Episcopalians had no church edifice at Chester, prior to the erec- 
tion of the old St. James' brick church, recently demolished, 
and that it was erected between the years 1702 and 1704. See 
Appendix, Note F. 

The presentments now made by the Grand Juries have become 
very numerous. The necessity of a pair of stocks and a whip- 
ping-post,^ in the town of Chester, is again presented, and the 
township of Chester is presented for not erecting the former, 
and for not clearing the road. In fact many of the presentments 
are "for not clearing the roads." 

^ Register's Of5ce, Philadelphia. Book A, 324. 

* The township of Chester is again presented the next year, " for not erecting a 
pair of stocks and whipping post in said town." 



212 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1704. 

At the last Court in 1703 the Grand Jury presented " the 
old court house as being a nuisance to the town in case of fire, 
and also the chimney of Henry Hollingsworth in Chester town." 
In consequence of this presentment, the court " on deliberate 
consideration orders that the said house be pulled down, and that 
Jasper Yeates, Chief Burgess of the Borough of Chester, shall 
see the said order performed."^ 

Since the first settlement of the county, the sentences of im- 
prisonment, by the Court, have been very rare. For many years 

past there has been none until this year, when 

was ordered " to remain in prison till he give security for his 
good behaviour." 

The following is a sentence on a man servant of Richard 
Woodward, for stealing a horse, saddle, bridle and wearing ap- 
parel from Jonathan Munrow : 

" That the said shall serve his said master and 

Jonathan Munrow, or their assigns seven years, (which time is to 
be equally divided betwixt them, and they to be at equal charge,) 
and to wear a T according to law." 

"West town" makes its appearance as a township in 1703 — 
its first constable being Richard Buffington. 

The attention of the Justices was frequently called to matters 
that would now scarcely claim the attention of our courts. Thus, 
an apprentice boy complains that his master had not freely per- 
formed his duty in teaching him to read and write. The Court 
directs the master "to put the said servant to school one month, 
and to instruct his said servant another month." 

An illegitimate child is brought to the Court, whose reputed 
father could not be found out. The Court ordered the child "to 
be called John Thorley.'' 

Tavern licenses were granted by the Governor, but none could 
apply but such as were recommended by the Court. The appli- 
cation for these, "recommendations," were rather annoying. 

At the May Court, this year, a commission from Governor 
Evans to Jasper Yeates, Caleb Pusey, Jeremiah Collett, Philip 
Roman and Jonathan Hayes was read, when they were qualified 
as Justices. 

In the year 1701, an act was passed authorizing the erection 
of a bridge over Chester Creek, in the town of Chester, and 
ordering the justices of the county court of this county, " to lay 
out a road from the Kings road that leads to New Castle and 
Maryland, near as may be to Ralph Fishbourn — the intended 
place for a bridge over Chester Creek." The road was not laid 
out till this year, when it appears the bridge was completed. 

1 An act passed in 1701, for the sale of this Court-house, shows that it had been 
" ruinated by fire " some time before. 



1705.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 213 

But another trouble presented itself; for some of the inhabitants 
of Chichester "did declare, they would never cut nor clear" 
the said road. But the Court got round the difficulty by order- 
ing "the inhabitants of Chester with such others as are willing 
to assist them, at their otvn proper charge, for the more effectual 
answering the said law, and speedy accommodation of all travel- 
lers, to cut and clear the road as they had laid it out." The 
Chester people were very anxious for the road, and the work was 
soon accomplished, and a report thereof made to the next Court. 
The great thoroughfare, by land, from the north to the south 
now, for the first time, passed through Chester. 

Application was made in 1704 to the Chichester and Concord 
Monthly Meeting of Friends, by John Bennet and Elizabeth 
Webb, " on behalf of the inhabitants of the upper part of Bir- 
mingham and Brandy wine Creek," to have a meeting at the 
house of John Bennett. This application was granted and after- 
wards confirmed by the Quarterly Meeting. Birmingham meet- 
ing had its origin in the meeting thus established. 

There appears to have been an unusually great rain on the 
first of May this year — so unusual that the circumstance is re- 
corded in the minutes of Chester Quarterly Meeting. 

What is now known in the Society of Friends as a Prepara- 
tive Meeting, being a thing of recent introduction, Darby sub- 
mits the manner of their preparative meeting to the Quarterly 
Meeting for their approbation. They also make the inquiry, 
Whether persons intending marriage may appear by writing at 
the preparative meeting. The answer was : " they may not, 
but by themselves or friends." 

Goshen, Whiteland, Willistown, Kennet and Marlborough now 
appear to be organized as townships, and return constables to 
the court.^ 

The law requiring applications to the Governor, for license to 
keep tavern, had the effect of lessening the number of legalized 
public houses. Some still persisted in selling liquors without 
license, but through the vigilance of the Grand jury, few were 
allowed to escape the penalty of the law. 

The Court did not, in every instance, at once cut short the 
traffic in liquor by persons whom they could not cordially in- 
dorse. As an instance of the leniency of the Justices in this re- 
spect, John Test was recommended to the Governor "for a 
license to sell strong liquors by retail for six months and no 
longer, in consideration that he now hath liquors lying on his 
hand, which cannot, without great damage, be vended as is sup- 
posed in much less time." John Test kept tavern in Darby. 

^ Shortly after this time, New Garden. Uwchlan, and Bradford were organized as 
townships, but the precise date is not contained in the Record of the Court. 



214 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1706. 

A Supreme or Provincial Court was held in Chester this year 
in which John Guest and Jasper Yeates officiated as Justices. 
This court declined to try an indictment for Burglary, on the 
ground that it had no jurisdiction in the case. 

Instead of Grand Jurors holding their office for a year as 
formerly there is now a new Grand Jury called at every court. 
Many of their presentments have the form of regular indictments, 
but others bear unmistakable evidence of having been drawn up 
in the Grand Jury room, of which the following is a specimen : 

" We the Grand Jury do present the want of a good lawful 
bridge over the Sweed's mill creek, and also over Darby creek, 
and also over Crum Creek, and to have the Queen's road made 
good, laid out according to law through Darby township & the 
township of Ridley to clear the road and mend the bridges." 

At the close of the year 1705, an act was passed by the 
Legislature " to assure, grant and convey unto Ralph Fishbourne 
of Chester, Gent, one messuage. Cottage, house or Tenements 
and lot of land thereunto belonging, situate in Chester, in the 
county of Chester aforesaid, formerly known by the name of the 
old Court house, to hold to the said Ralph Fishbourne, his heirs 
and assigns forever." This Court-house was built in 1685. — 
See Appendix, Note H. 

Governor Evans was a young man, and was alike destitute of 
correct principles and good morals. He hated the Quakers, and 
in order to test their doctrine of non-resistance, he resorted to a 
trick so contemptible in character, that it should at once have 
insured his dismissal from office. With one French, who was 
stationed at New Castle, and others, he concerted a plot, to raise 
an alarm, by announcing the approach of hostile vessels. On 
the appointed day, (16th of May, 1706,) French sent a messenger 
to the Governor in the greatest haste, with the false news, which 
the Governor and others in the plot, pretended to believe, and 
did not fail to circulate far and wide. The Governor in order to 
play his part the better, rode through the streets of Philadelphia 
on horseback, with a drawn sword in his hand, in the greatest 
apparent consternation. This false alarm must have reached 
Chester before it reached Philadelphia, but no document has 
been met with in which the subject is mentioned. By even- 
ing of the same day, the untruthfulness of the story became 
known, and its authors were glad to hide themselves in order to 
avoid the just indignation of an insulted people. 

The Great Southern road, as originally laid out, crossed Darby 
creek at nearly the same point where it now crosses — just at the 
head of tide. The place of crossing Crum, Ridley and Chester 
creeks was also at the head of tide water, and the main rout of 
the road had a general direction to suit these points for crossing 



1706.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 215 

the creeks. A bridge had been built over Chester creek at 
Chester, and the road had lately been varied at that point. 
Upon the petition of the inhabitants of the town and county of 
Chester to the Governor and council,^ Jasper Yeates, Caleb 
Pusey, Jeremiah Collet, Robert Barber and John Hendrickson, 
were appointed " to lay out the Queens road on as direct a line 
as may be from Darby to answer the bridge on Chester creek." 
At the same time the Council ordered, that " if there shall be 
occasion for building a bridge over any Navigable Creek or 
water, for the greater convenience of Travelling the said road, 
that such bridge shall be so built, that the same may in no wise 
hinder any boats from passing, either up or down such creek or 
water." The road was promptly laid out,^ in pursuance of this 
order of Council, and the Justices of the Court at once directed 
the Supervisors of Chester, Ridley, and Darby to be notified by 
the Sheriff, to clear the same. This does not appear to have 
been done; for, agreeably to a draft submitted to Council in 
1747, by Joseph Bonsall and John Davis, scarcely any part of 
the road then travelled corresponded with the road laid out in 
1706^ — the travelled road, except for a very short distance, 
being from twenty to forty perches or more south of that laid 
out in 1706. 

By agreement between the Philadelphia and Chester Quarterly 
Meetings, Newtown Meeting was transferred to the latter. 
There was also a preparative meeting established at Notting- 
ham this year, by the Concord and Chichester Monthly 
Meetings. 

Under directions from the quarterly meeting, action was 
taken in the several monthly meetings of the Society of Friends 
on the subject of grave-stones. The committees appointed on 
that subject by Chester Monthly Meeting, found but "six small 
stones to the graves." It was "the sense of the meeting," 
that they "be sunk or taken away." At Darby, where grave- 
stones appear to have been more common, the request for their 
removal was directed to the relatives of the deceased. The task 
was, therefore, very reluctantly performed, and in some cases 
the relatives disregarded a request so much at variance with 
their feelings. Eventually, the subject gave rise to considerable 
dissatisfaction in this meeting and others. 

It does not appear to have been the practice, in early times, 
for the Society of Friends to keep a record of the voluntary 
relinquishment of membership. It is therefore impossible to 

1 Col. Ree. ii. 236. 

2 A draft of this road is on file in the Surveyor-General's OfiSce, and in the Secre- 
tary of State's Office, Harrisburg. 

^ Mr. Samuel Hazard kindly furnished me with a copy of this draft, the original of 
which is in the Secretary of State's Ofiioe, Harrisburg. 



216 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1707, 

ascertain the number who took sides with George Keith. Some 
of them returned to the Society, made an acknowledgment of 
their error, and were kindly received. Others did not, and are 
spoken of in the Society as Separatists. Between these and the 
Society of Friends no very friendly feeling existed. In 1703, 
Newtown Meeting reported to Haverford Monthly Meeting, 
with which it was then united, " that divers that had formerly 
separated from Friends, desire to join with them in their bury- 
in g-place." It was the judgment of the meeting, " that they 
should not be concerned with them while they so continue." 

And again, this year, " W T of Newtown attending 

the funeral of a child of one of his neighbors, a Separatist^ and 
one of the Separatists going to prayer, he unadvisedly took off 
his hat, which he acknowledges to be a scandal to the truth, and 
is sorry for it." 

A proposition was made last year, to Chester Monthly 
Meeting, by the Goshen Friends, "for building a meeting 
house and having a Grave yard near Edgment road in Goshen," 
but no action was then taken. This year the proposition is 
renewed in these words : 

"Friends of Goshen meeting laid their intention, of building 
a meeting house near Robert Williams by the Burying ground, 
which this meeting hath nothing to object against."^ A meeting 
was at the same time authorized to be held once a month in 
Whiteland, and once in six weeks at James Thomas' in the 
Valley. 

At the February Court of this year, Jeremiah Collett, con- 
stable of Chichester, was presented by the Grand Jury for 
neglect of duty, in not presenting Mordecai Howill, " for work- 
ing and suffering his children and servants to work and do 
servile labor on the first day of the week." What was done 
with Mordecai Howill does not appear, but the poor constable, 
after pleading guilty, was sentenced by the Court, " to pay a 
fine of five shillings and his fees, and then go Quitt." 

Heretofore, all bridges have been a township charge. All 
the bridges on the recently laid out Queen's road, and all 
bridges on roads leading to the same, are directed by the Court, 
to "be erected, repaired and maintained at the public charge of 
the County of Chester." This order of the Court does not 
appear to be in pursuance of any law on the subject. 

^ This meeting-house does not appear to have heen completed till 1709, on the 
31st of October of which year, a request is made by the Goshen Friends to the 
monthly meeting, "that the meetings kept at Robert Williams, may henceforth be 
kept at the new meeting house." This nejo meeting house occupied nearly the site of 
the present old Goshen meeting-house, but extended a little further west, where its 
foundation may yet be seen. It was replaced by a stone building in 1737, of rather 
larger dimensions than the present meeting-house. The original meeting-house was 
doubtless built of logs. 



1709.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 217 

The first report of damages by reason of laying out a public 
road, was made to the November Court of this year. The 
damage was laid at £5, for "passing over Joseph Richard's 
manured land.'" 

At the following February term, three constables were ap- 
pointed by the Justices, "to attend this Court." This is the 
first instance of such an appointment, furnished by the Records 
of the Court. 

The following is a part of the proceedings of a Court of 
Private Sessions, held in December, 1708 : 

" Whereas there is a necessity for a new door for the prison, 
being the common gaol, ordered that Henry Hollingsworth,^ 
clerk of the said county, forthwith cause a door for the said 
prison to be made and grated with Iron bars on the outside, and 
so finished that it may be secure from either cutting or firing by 
prisoners." Most of us who have served as Grand Jurors, in 
visiting the old prison at Chester, will recollect this grated door. 

At the May term, " Thomas Clarke appeared in open Court 
and was qualified attorney General for the county of Chester, 
according to law." This is the first appearance of such an 
oflScer, though, occasionally, an attorney has represented the 
Crown in a particular case. 

The administration of Governor Evans was as unpopular, as 
the foolish conduct of a profligate young man, filled with con- 
ceit, could make it. His altercations with the Assembly were 
constant ; but at length, that body, aided by other real friends 
of the Province, secured his recall. He was superseded in Sep- 
tember, by the appointment of Col. Charles Gookin, who did 
not, however, arrive in the Province till the following March. 

A new Commission was issued to the Justices of the several 
Counties. Those appointed for Chester County were, Jasper 
Yeates, Caleb Pusey," Philip Roman, Jon^ Hayes, Tho'. Powell, 
Nicholas Pile and Henry Pierce. 

The constant altercations between the Governor and Council, 
on the one side, and the Assembly on the other, during the 
administration of Governor Evans, were such an impediment to 
legislation, that but little was eflected either for good or for 
evil. James Logan was the leading spirit on the side of the 
Governor, and it cannot be doubted that he supposed he was 
fairly representing the interests of the Proprietary. His con- 
duct, however, throughout, cannot at this day be defended, 
though it may be, in a measure, excused on account of the un- 
manageable character of the Governor, through whom he was 
obliged to act. On the side of the Assembly, David Lloyd held 
a similar position ; and while we may regret the impetuosity of 

1 Henry Hollingsworth also held the office of Coroner at this time. 



218 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1710. 

temper he sometimes exhibited, a fair and impartial examination 
of the questions discussed, will show that he was generally on 
what would be considered the right side at this day. His views 
were in advance of the age in which he lived, and, as a necessity, 
in advocating them he not only encountered the prejudices of 
the times, but every interest that had grown out of them. But 
this controversy belongs to the history of the State, rather than 
to that of one of its smallest Counties. 

Settlements were now rapidly extending westward. New 
meeting-houses and mills were being erected, and new roads laid 
out. 

Application is made to the Chichester and Concord Monthly 
Meeting, and by it to the Quarterly Meeting, " that the meeting 
of worship kept at the house of William Browne in Nottingham, 
may for the future be kept at the new meeting house, there built 
for that end and purpose, every first, and fifth days." A road 
is also petitioned for, to the Court, " from Thomas Jarman's mill 
in the Great Valley to William Davis' mill in Radnor."^ The 
Friends of Newtoivn also have intention "to build a meeting 
house near Friends burial yard." 

So great had been the prosperity of our Quaker settlers, that 
they were not only able to build their own meeting-houses, but 
were able and willing to aid distant communities of the same 
faith to erect similar edifices. Accordingly we find the Treasurer 
of Chester Monthly Meeting ordered " to pay eight pounds, 
Boston money, to Samuel Carpenter or Issac Morris, it being 
this meeting's proportion of one hundred pounds, that the Yearly 
Meeting appointed to be raised for Friends of Boston in order 
for their assistance in paying for their meeting house." 
t The Indians manifested some uneasiness about this time, which 
was communicated to the Governor by William Dalbo, of Glou- 
cester County, N. J., " who acquainted him that there is a Belt 
of Wampum come to Conestogo, from Mahquahotonoi ; y* there 
was a Tomahock in Red in the belt, & y' the French with five 
nations of Indians were designed for war, and to fall on some of 
these plantations." This information was duly laid before the 
Council, by the Governor, on the 14th of April, and also a letter 
he had received from Mr. Yeates, Caleb Pusey and Thomas 
Powell, dated the same day, "purporting that to-morrow there 
was to be a great concourse of Indians, those of Conestogo & 
those of the Jersey ; that they were of opinion that it might be 
a seasonable opportunity for the Govr. to visit them altogether ; 
the meeting being the greatest that has been known these Twenty 

1 This latter mill was at or near the site of the old mill on Darby Creek, now 
owned by Tryon Lewis. 



1710.] HISTOKY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 219 

years, and is to be about two miles from Jno. Warraws [Jno. 
Worralls], at Edgmond."' 

It was the opinion of the Board, " that the Governor with 
some of the Council, and as many others as can be got should 
go to-morrow to meet the s** Indians to inquire further of them 
about the said Belt of Wampum, and what else may be thought 
necessary." 

The Governor and others doubtless met the Indians, as here 
indicated, but as no report of the interview was made to the 
Council, it is probable the principal chiefs were not present. On 
the 29th of April some more alarming news was communicated 
to the Council, which induced the Governor to visit Conestogo 
and have an interview with the Red Men. He found them 
" very well inclined to the English," but they complained of ag- 
gressions that had been committed on them by the white man. 

The Governor, immediately on his return from Conestogo, 
sent Col. French and Henry Worley to ascertain more fully the 
wishes of the Indians. These gentlemen returned with eight 
belts of Wampum, and made their report to the Council on the 
16th of June. Each of these belts had a particular significance. 
The import of three of them will be given : 

The first was from their old women, and signified " that those 
implored their friendship of the Christians and Indians of this 
Govm*, that without danger or trouble, they might fetch Wood & 
Water."' 

" The second Belt was sent from their children born, and those 
yet in the womb, requesting that room to sport & play without 
danger of Slavery, might be allowed them." 

" The third Belt was sent from their young men fitt to hunt, 
that privilege to leave their Towns, and seek provision for their 
aged, might be granted to them, without fear of Death or 
Slavery.'' 

The last two of these belts have a significance that cannot be 
misunderstood. They plainly suggest the reason for the passage, 
in 1705, of the " Act to prevent the importation of Indian 
slaves.''^ 

At the election in October, of this year, the liberal party, of' 
which David Lloyd was the acknowledged leader, was defeated 

1 John Worrall lived in Edgmont, but it can scarcely be doubted that this Indian 
meeting was held at the settlement of the Okehocking Indians, in Willistown, adjoin- 
ing Edgmont. See map of Early Settlements. 

2 The preamble of that act is in these words : " Whei-eas the importation of Indian 
Slaves from Carolina or other places, hath been observed to give the Indians of this 
Province some umbrage for suspicion and dissatisfaction, therefore, &C," — Gov. Mark- 
ham, by his will manumits, conditionally, an Indian boy, about 3 years old, who was 
a slave for life — probably born in his family. See Register's OfBoe, Philada., Book B, 
364. 



220 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1712. 

throughout the province. This defeat has been attributed to a 
letter from the Proprietary, dated at London, 29th 4th mo. 
[July], 1710, which censures unsparingly, the course pursued 
by the Assembly. This, however, is a mistake, for the letter 
was not received till after the election.^ The people had be- 
come wearied with the incessant controversy kept up between 
their representatives and the Governor and Council, and though 
they may not have approved of the conduct of the latter, they 
availed themselves of the only means in their power, to termi- 
nate the political broils which, by obstructing all useful legisla- 
tion, had come to be regarded as a more serious evil than to yield 
to the demands of their opponents. 

David Lloyd removed to Chester in 1710,^ but whether before 
or after the election is not known. In 1712 he was chosen a 
representative from Chester County. 

The defeat of the liberal party produced more harmonious 
action in the government. Still there was a considerable differ- 
ence of opinion between the representatives of the people and 
the official dependents of the Proprietary, but each side evincing 
a more yielding disposition than heretofore, the progress of le- 
gislation was not materially impeded. 

Towards the close of 1711 Newtown Meeting informed the 
Chester Monthly Meeting, " that their meeting house is near 
finished, and desired that their meeting may be removed from 
Evan Lewis' to the meeting house." 

At a monthly meeting, held 28th of 2d mo. (April), 1712, 
the representatives of Goshen meeting "moved the request of 
several friends that lives at a place called Youchland, to have a 
meeting at the house of John Cadwaladers." This meeting was 
allowed to be held " every first and fifth days, except when a 
meeting is kept at James Thomas', they meeting once in six 
weeks with the Great Valley friends at James Thomas'." 

Preachers among the Friends were very numerous in most of 
the meetings in the county about this time, and several of them 
were quite eminent. These were frequently engaged in making 
religious visits to distant places — to Virginia, Carolina, Barba- 
does, Long Island, New England, and sometimes to Great 
Britain. Elizabeth Webb, of Birmingham, returned this year 
from a visit to England and Wales, with certificates of approval 
from six different monthly and quarterly meetings, and John 
Salkeld is furnished with a certificate " to visit friends in the 
Islands, and also in Great Britain and Ireland, or elsewhere," 
and in the following year John Jarman, of Radnor, asked for a 

1 Proud, ii. 45 ; Gordon, 161 ; Janney's Life of Penn, 514-519. 

2 Letter from Isaac Norris to James Logan. — Janney, 514. 



1713.] HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY, 221 

certificate to visit England and Wales. Many such religious 
visits might be enumerated. 

There appears to have been a congregation of Seventh-day 
Baptists organized in Newtown about this period. It is referred 
to in a minute of Chester Monthly Meeting, in which complaint 
is made that a member inclines to join that sect, and hath fre- 
quented their meetings. 

"A petition of a great number of the inhabitants of the 
county of Chester" was presented to the Governor and Council, 
" praying that y*" Borough of the Town of Chester, in this Pro- 
vince may be made a free Port.'' The matter was referred to 
the Proprietary, that he might " take proper methods concerning 
the same & Consult the Comr^ of the Queen's Customs therein."^ 
If this application had been successful, the improvement of the 
venerable borough would not have been left for the present 
generation to accomplish. 

An act was passed in 1712 to prevent the importation of 
Negroes and Indians into this Province. The passage of this 
law was the first effort made to restrain the increase of Negro 
Slavery in Pennsylvania, but it was subsequently repealed by 
the Crown. This result was brought about by commercial con- 
sideration's alone, regardless of the dictates of humanity or the 
interests of the Province.^ 

Wearied with his pecuniary incumbrances and the troubles 
that were incident to his Proprietary rights, which his increasing 
years and declining health rendered him less able to bear, Penn 
entered into a negotiation for the sale of the Province to the 
Queen. The price (X12,000), and other particulars of the sale, 
had been agreed upon, when the Proprietary was suddenly seized 
with a partial paralysis, from which he never sufficiently reco- 
vered to enable him formally to execute the contract. 

A road was this year laid out " from Providence Lower road 
by Rich^ Crosby s mill to Edgment road." This is the first 
mention of Crosby s mill that has come to the notice of the 
author. 

The following extract from the records of Haverford Monthly 
Meeting would seem to indicate that a pecuniary stimulant was 
necessary to secure a confirmation by the Crown of certain pro- 
vincial legislative enactments : 

" It was signified by the Quarterly Meeting that some friends 
disbursed money on account of getting the affirmation act con- 
firmed, which are yet unpaid ; and the proportion thereof be- 
falling upon this meeting appears to be one pound, fourteen 

1 Col. Rec. ii. 546. 

2 A similar law was passed the same year (1712) by the Legislature of Massachu- 
setts. — Holmes' Ann. ii. 84. 



222 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1715. 

shillings one penny half penny, and Thomas Jones is ordered to 
pay the same according to the desire and order of the Quarterly 
meeting "^ 

Many persons have been led to believe from the date on the 
Friends' meeting-house at Merion, that the present edifice was 
erected in 1695.^ That date undoubtedly refers to the first 
meeting-house, a temporary structure of wood erected on the 
same site. The present meeting-house, which has been reno- 
vated within a few years past, was erected in 1713. The fol- 
lowing minute, adopted by Haverford Meeting on the 8th of the 
8th mo. (October) of that year, is conclusive upon the subject : 

" This meeting agrees that Merion frds shall have the money 
lent to Rees Howell and Joseph Evans, towards finishing their 
meeting house." 

Another minute shows that " the five pounds old currency, 
lent to Rees Howell was paid towards finishing Merion Meeting 
house.'' 

Haverford Monthly Meeting this year authorized a first-day 
meeting "in Upper Merion at the house of Rowland Ellis, and 
at David Meredith's house on the fourth day of the week * * *." 

In 1714 "friends inhabiting about Perquaming and this side 
of Schulkill in y^ valley being desirous y' a meeting might be 
allowed y™ every other m", to be & begin att Lewis Walker's 
house the first in 2"*^ m° next and thence every other month, att 
Joseph Richardsons house until y^ 9**" mo. next." 

Gwynedd was established as a monthly meeting in 1714. It 
included Plymouth, and probably other meetings. 

The annual and semi-annual Fairs held at different villages 
had become places of so much disorder and vice, that Friends 
found it necessary to appoint persons to have an oversight of the 
youth who assembled there. 

Queen Anne died on the first of August, 1714, and was suc- 
ceeded by George the First, but as no official announcement of 
the decease of Her Majesty had been made, the legislature that 
met in October adjourned over till February. David Lloyd was 
again returned to the legislature and elected Speaker. 

The circular line between the Counties of Chester and New 
Castle, that had been run in 1701, was not confirmed by the 
Legislature till 1715. 

By the death of the Queen, all commissions granted during 

1 An aflSrmation act was among the earliest laws enacted by Penn, but this was an- 
nulled by Queen Anne in 1705, and consequently Friends were subjected to the form 
allowed in England, which was in these words : " I, A — B — , do declare in the presence 
of Almighty God, the witness of the truth of what I say, &c." Some Friends objected 
to this form of aifirmation on account of the appeal made to the Supreme Being, and 
it was to remove this diflEiculty that the act in question was passed. The application 
for its confirmation was not successful. 

2 Hist. Collections Penna. 484; also, Retrospect of Early Quakerism, 61. 



1715.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 223 

her reign expired. The following persons were appointed 
Justices for the County of Chester at the commencement of 
the reign of George the First, viz. : Caleb Pusey, Nicholas 
Pyle, Richard Webb, Henry Pearce, Henry Neal, Nicholas 
Fairlamb, John Blunston, Jr., and Richard Hayes. 

Another affirmation Act was passed this year, and received 
the approbation of Governor Gookin. "By an act of Parlia- 
ment of 1 Geo. I. the Stat, of 7 & 8 Wil. III. was made per- 
petual in Great Britain, and was extended to the Colonies for 
five years. By a provision of this latter act, no Quaker hy 
virtue thereof^ could be qualified or permitted to give evidence 
in criminal cases, or serve on juries, or hold any office of profit 
in the Government.-^ The Governor contended that this act 
repealed the provincial law, and had the same disqualifying 
efiects upon Quakers here as it had in England. Most of the 
important offices in the Province were filled by Quakers ; and 
the Justices of the Supreme Court hesitated to perform their 
duties in the face of the opinion of the Governor. Under these 
difficulties, criminal justice was not, for a time, administered 
throughout the Province. 

One of the most important cases left untried, was that of 
Hugh Pugh, and others, for the murder of Jonathan Hayes, in 
Chester County. The criminals were eventually admitted to 
bail.2 

The evidence is almost conclusive that the murdered man 
was the same Jonathan Hayes who resided in Marple, and who 
served for a long time as a Justice of the Court, and sometimes 
as a member of the Legislature. The murder excited great 
interest in the County. Three men were fined for refusing to 
aid the constable "in apprehending Hugh Pugh," who was 
charged as a principal in the murder; and so much interest 
attached to the case, that three persons were appointed by the 
Court to find a place more convenient than the Court-house for 
the trial of the murderers. 

The subject of negro slavery had for some time engaged the 
attention of sundry members of the Society of Friends, and as 
early as 1688, a little community of German Quakers, at Ger- 
mantown, arrived at the conclusion that holding slaves was 
inconsistent with Christianity. These people presented the sub- 
ject to the monthly meeting to which they belonged, in a letter 
alike remarkable for the simplicity of its language and the 
strength of the arguments adduced against holding human 
beings in bondage. 

But even the Society of Friends was not, as a body, quite 
prepared at that period to view the institution as sinful. The 

1 Gordon's Hist. Penna.'169. 2 Col. Rec. ii. 660. 



224 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1715. 

monthly meeting, though it regarded the tenor of the letter as 
"being nearly related to ^rM^A," found the question^ involved 
therein too weighty for its decision, and, accordingly, referred 
the subject to the quarterly meeting, which, in like manner, and 
for a like reason, submitted the matter to the consideration of 
the yearly meeting. This body unquestionably represented the 
Society not only within the limits of the Province, and three 
lower counties, but also those settled in parts of New Jersey 
and Maryland. The following minute made upon the occasion 
should at least teach us to exercise an abundance of charity 
towards the people of the South who still regard the institution 
with so much favor: 

"A paper was presented by some German Friends concerning 
the lawfulness and unlawfulness of buying and keeping negroes. 
It was adjudged not to be proper for this meeting to give a 
positive judgment in the case, it having so general a relation to 
many other parts; and, therefore, at present, they forbear it."^ 

Such a decision, made by other men, under other circum- 
stances, might be regarded as a convenient shift to get rid of a 
disagreeable question they had not the moral courage to meet. 
But such a suspicion cannot attach to these early Quakers. 
Their faithfulness to what they regarded as the Truth, had been 
tested, in very many of them, by the severest persecution that 
the bigotry of the age dared to inflict. To them, it may be 
remarked, the institution was presented in its mildest form ; 
and doubtless many of them had witnessed a moral improve- 
ment in the imported Africans distributed amongst them. They 
were really not prepared to give " a positive judgment in the 
case," but it ever after continued to be one upon which the 
Society was deeply exercised, until the total abolition of slavery 
was accomplished. 

In 1696, Friends are advised by the yearly meeting, " not to 
encourage the bringing in any more negroes." It also gives 
wholesome advice in respect to their moral training. In 1711, 
the Quarterly Meeting of Chester declared to the yearly meet- 
ing, " their dissatisfaction with Friends buying and encouraging 
the bringing in of negroes." The advice of the yearly meeting 
only goes to the discouragement of the slave trade. The Lon- 
don Yearly Meeting was appealed to for advice, but none could 
be had, except that the importing of slaves from their native 
country by Friends, "is not a commendable or allowable prac- 
tice." In 1714, a law was passed imposing a duty of £20 on 
each negro slave imported, on the ground " that the multiplying 
of them may be of dangerous consequence." This act was 
promptly disallowed by the home Government. 

1 Mitchener's Retrospect of Early Quakerism, 335. 



1715.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 225 

This year, the Monthly Meeting of Chester had the subject 
of slaves again under consideration, and unanimously came to 
the conclusion, " that friends should not be concerned hereafter, 
in the importation thereof, nor buy any." This buying, the 
quarterly meeting concluded, had only reference to imported 
slaves. If so, the action of the monthly meeting did not go one 
step beyond what had already been determined upon by the 
yearly meeting. There is some reason, however, to believe that 
the term was used in a more general sense, as will be seen by a 
minute adopted the following year. 

Up to about this period, the dealings with offending members 
in the Society of Friends, were, in general, for a violation of 
discipline, or for slight offences. No one had, as yet, been dealt 
with for a failure to pay his debts, and but few cases of a 
scandalous nature appear upon the minutes of the Society. But 
this generation of early Quakers, whose record for strict moral 
rectitude has scarcely a parallel in the annals of religious sects, 
was about passing away, to be succeeded by their descendants, 
who were mostly members by birthright, and whose faithfulness 
to their religious profession had not been tested by severe trials 
and persecutions. A greater laxity of morals is observable, 
though the number of cases brought to the notice of the several 
meetings is by no means large. To remedy this growing evil, 
an ill-judged public exposure of the offender was now for the 
first time resorted to. The following minute from the Darby 
Record is the prelude to this singular and rather unfeeling 
practice, in that meeting: 

" This meeting having considered that inasmuch as the Book 
of discipline, directs that all papers of condemnation be pub- 
lished as near as may so far as the offence hath reached the 
ears of the people, Do upon deliberation of the matter conclude 
that for the future all papers of condemnations which the 
monthly meeting shall judge the offence to be a publick scandal, 
shall be read as speedily as may be at first day meeting, and 
published further as there may be occasion." It is but fair to 
state that no such paper of condemnation was issued until re- 
peated, and re-repeated efforts had been exhausted in endeavors 
to reclaim the offender. 

There were a few Baptists located within our limits at a very 
early date. It is said that one Able Noble, who arrived in 
1684, " formed a society of Baptists in Upper Providence 
Chester County, where he baptized Thomas Martin a public 
Friend."^ Noble appears to have been a Seventh-day Baptist, 
and belonged to a community that was afterwards known as 
Kiethian Baptists. Besides Thomas Martin, a number of bap- 

1 Haz. Ann. ii. 73. 

15 



226 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1717. 

tisms are recorded as having taken place at a very early period, 
and at various places in the County ; but a highly interesting 
manuscript in the possession of Robert Frame, Esq., of Birming- 
ham, satisfies me that no regular church of the Baptist persua- 
sion had been organized till 1715. Meetings, it is true, were 
held in private houses in Chester, Ridley, Providence, Radnor, 
and Springfield, and baptism was performed according to ancient 
order, in the adjacent creeks, and even the Lord's Supper was 
administered, but these were the doings of variable congrega- 
tions, rather than the acts of an organized church. 

The paper referred to is in the nature of a constitution, and 
the organization effected under it, afterwards assumed the title 
of the " Brandywine Baptist Church," by which it has continued 
to be known to the present time. It will be perceived that 
these early Baptists used the same designation for the months 
and days as the Quakers. Most of them had been members of 
that sect ; quite a large proportion were of Welsh origin. — See 
Appendix, Note I. 

The minute adopted by the Chester Monthly Meeting in 1715 
in respect to negro slavery, is rendered explicit by the following, 
adopted by the same meeting this year : 

" The meeting desires the Quarterly meeting will take into 
their further consideration, the buying and selling of negroes, 
which gives great encouragement for bringing them in, and that 
no friend be found in the practice of buying any, that shall be 
imported hereafter." 

A preparative meeting was settled at Cain in 1716, by Con- 
cord Monthly Meeting. 

From orders made by the Court for the repair of the bridge 
over Chester Creek at Chester, it appears that its original con- 
struction with a draw was still maintained. From a similar 
order, " to repair y" bridge over Ridley Creek in the great new 
road now leading from Chester to Philadelphia," it may be in- 
ferred that it did not contain a draw. 

It would appear from the Court Records of this period, that 
but twelve traverse jurors sometimes attended at a Court, and 
fifteen Grand Jurors. The sentences of the Court change from 
time to time, sometimes in consequence of a change in the law, 
at others, from the whims of the Justices. 

This year a sentence for larceny to the value of <£8 was, that 
the defendant pay four fold and costs, " and be whipped 21 
lashes, and to wear a roman T of a blue colour for the space of 
six months not less than four inches long each way, and one 
inch broad, and be committed till he comply with s** Judgment." 
This was not an unusual punishment. 

In early times the office of Sheriff" was not so profitable as it 



1718.] HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. 227 

now is, and as a sort of perquisite the Sheriff was allowed to 
keep tavern. Hence we find Nicholas Fairlamb, a newly elected 
Sheriff, petitioning to the Court to be recommended for a license. 
In later times the tavern was kept in the dwelling apartment of 
the prison. 

Governor Gookin had become very unpopular with all parties 
long before the close of his administration. He was superseded 
by Hon. William Keith, a Scotchman, who arrived at Philadel- 
phia on the 31st of May, 1717, and was sworn into office the 
next day. 

Total abstinence from the use of intoxicating drinks was not 
thought of in early times ; but the subject of their excessive use 
was frequently brought before the business meetings of the 
Quakers. Selling rum to the Indians was attended with so 
many evil consequences, that it was frequently testified against 
by different meetings of the Society, But rum was regarded as 
an article of necessity. It was in general use, and was sold by 
Friends of the highest standing, and sometimes at the houses at 
which the earlier meetings of the Society were held. But the 
evils resulting from intoxication were too apparent to be passed 
over by a sect making high professions of morality, and 
hence we find frequent testimonies borne against drunkenness. 
The following is a specimen from the minutes of Chester 
Monthly Meeting : 

" Friends being under a weighty concern for the preservation 
of good order at all times, and particularly in the approaching 
time of harvest, and it is desired friends avoid all extravagant 
customs and drinking to excess." 

Meetings had for a long time been held at private houses in 
Birmingham, but no regular meeting-house was established till 
1718, when the first was erected at or near the site of the 
present Birmingham meeting-house. It is said to have been 
built of cedar logs. 

A new Friends' meeting-house was also built at Radnor this 
year. The minutes of the monthly meeting that relate to the 
erection of this edifice are given, to show the cautious manner 
in which such enterprises were entered upon in these early times. 
The first minute is dated at a meeting held at Haverford, 8th 
mo. 10th of the previous year, and runs thus : 

" A letter from our Friend Benjamin Holm to this meeting, 
recommending to their consideration the stirring up of frd^ in y^ 
building of their meeting house att Radnor, and with desires y' 
we should be concerned for y^ prosperity of Truth, was read in 
this meeting and approved off. Likewise this meeting pursuant 
to Radnor frds desire acquiess w*^ y™ in building a new meeting 
house and this meeting appoints David Morris, David Lewis, 



228 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1718. 

Edd. Rees and Robert Jones, Richard Hayes and Samuel Lewis 
to assist y" In y® contrivance [and] y*^ building Thereof, and 
they meet together ab* it on y^ 21^' of this instant, [and report] 
to y* next meeting." 

The members of the Committee all belonged to the preparative 
meetings of Haverford and Merion. The next meeting was held 
at Merion, and one of its minutes embraces the report of the 
Committee. 

" Some friends of those appointed to assist Radnor friends 
In y** Contrivance of a new meeting house, then having ace*, y* 
they have accordingly mett and given y" Their thoughts as to 
y* bigness and form thereof. To w**^ Radnor frd^ Then there 
present seemed generally to agree w*." 

The monthly meetings were held alternately at Haverford, 
Merion and Radnor, and in course a meeting would be held at 
Radnor in the early part of December, 1718. This meeting was 
ordered to be held at Haverford, " their meeting house at Rad- 
nor being not ready. "^ 

The west end of the present meeting-house at Radnor was the 
building then erected. The date of its erection is further at- 
tested by being cut on a tablet in the east gable. 

For some years, the intellect of William Penn had been so 
much impaired, as wholly to exclude him from any participation 
in the aifairs of the Province. His general health gradually 
declined till the time of his death, which happened on the 30''' of 
July, 1718. The news of this melancholy event did not reach 
Pennsylvania till October, when it was formally announced to the 
Assembly, which was then in Session. 

Soon after the arrival of Governor Keith, the Supreme Court 
was so constituted as to hold a Court of Oyer and Terminer at 
Chester, for the trial of the murderers of Jonathan Hayes. 
They were promptly tried, and Hugh Pugh and Lazarus Thomas 
were convicted, and sentenced to be hung. 

The condemned petitioned the Governor for a reprieve, until 
the pleasure of his Majesty the King could be known; but the 
Governor, who had attended the trial, and being satisfied of its 
fairness, was so fully convinced of the guilt of the prisoners, 
that he at once rejected the petition, and in doing so he was sus- 
tained by a majority of his council. The grounds taken in the 
appeal to the Crown were: — 

" 1st. Because seventeen of the Grand Inquest who found the 
bill of Indictment against them, and eight of the Petty Jury who 
found them guity were Quakers or Reputed Quakers, and were 

1 As late as 1721, committees were appointed in Haverford and Merion for raising 
funds for the completion of Radnor meeting-house. 



1719.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 229 

Qualified no otherwise than by an affirmacon or Declaracon con- 
trary to a statute made in the first year of your Mat'*"^ Reign. 

" 2ndly. Because the act of Assembly of this Province, by 
which Judges, Jury & Witnesses were pretended to be Qua- 
lified was made & past the Twenty eighth Day of May, in the 
first year of your Majestie's Reign, which was after s** murder 
was supposed to be committed ; and after another act of Assem- 
bly of the same nature was repealed by her Late Majesty, Queen 
Anne. 

" 3dly. Because s*^ act of Assembly is not consonant to Rea- 
son, but Repugnant & contrary to the Laws, Statutes and Rights 
of your Majestie's Kingdom."^ 

It appears from the discussion in Council, that the condemned 
" had for several years appeared at the head of a lawless Gang 
of Loose fellows, commom disturbers of the public peace." The 
crime had been committed three years before the trial, during 
part of which time, the accused being out on bail, behaved in the 
worst possible manner. The appeal made to the Crown in this 
case, is perhaps the only instance on record, where any excep- 
tion has been taken, by a defendant tried for murder, to the 
presence of Quakers on the Jury. 

A great alarm from piratical vessels being on the coast pre- 
vailed in 1718. Under an act of Grace, promulgated by the 
King, a number of these pirates had surrendered themselves, 
and had obtained certificates to that efiect from the provincial 
authorities; but it was suspected that these repentant outlaws 
still maintained a secret correspondence with their old associates. 
Measures were at once adopted by the Governor and Council to 
rid the Province of persons so dangerous to its peace and safety. 

An act passed in 1718, "for the advancement of justice, and 
more certain administration thereof, " removed most of the 
obstacles in the way of Friends participating freely in legisla- 
tive and judicial concerns.^ This act was confirmed by the 
King and Council in the following year. The act " for corro- 
borating the circular line between the Counties of Chester and 
New Castle," that had been passed several years previously, met 
with a different fate ; for what reason does not appear. 

"John Wright, Richard Webb, Henry Pierce and Henry Nayle 
and their associates," now appear as Justices of the " General 
Quarter Sessions of the Peace and jail delivery." The August 
Court was held by John Wright alone. At this Court, for an 

1 Col. Ree. iii. 31. 

^ It has been said that the privileges acquired by the Friends, in the passage of this 
act, " was the inducement for adopting the sanguinary rigor of the English penal law, 
in violation of the humane policy which had previously influenced the legislature of 
Pennsylvania, on the subject of crimes and punishments." — Laws Penna. Bioren's Ed. 
i. 130. Note. 



230 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1720, 

assault and battery committed on a female, the sentence was a 
fine of X50, " and to stand in the pillory at Chester between y^ 
hours of 10 and 2 on the 5*^ day of October, and that he give 
security for his good behaviour during 7 years next ensuing." 

A road was laid out in 1719 from Goshen to Philadelphia, 
commencing " at the intersection of the Goshen mill road with 
the Providence road." This road passed by what was formerly 
known as "the Old Square," in Newtown township, and a short 
distance beyond that point it entered " the Great road leading to 
Philadelphia." 

After the death of William Penn, his eldest son, William, 
claimed the right to administer the government of the Province, 
and accordingly issued a new commission to Lieut. -Gov. Keith. 
After consulting with his Council, and also with the Assembly, 
the Governor declined the new commission, and continued to act 
under his former appointment. This decision met with the 
approbation of the home Government. William Penn, the 
younger, died two years after his father, and after some 
litigation, not only the Province, but the government of it, 
descended to John, Thomas, and Richard Penn, the surviving 
sons of the Proprietary by his second wife Hannah Callowhill. 

The literature of the Province, so far as the people generally 
were concerned, was very much restricted to religious publica- 
tions. These productions were standard works or controversial 
writings of the Society of Friends, published in England, and 
sometimes republished in Philadelphia. Such books were dis- 
tributed with a profuse liberality by the several monthly 
meetings among their members. Besides Epistles and Testi- 
monies concerning deceased members, few original works had 
been published in the Province. 

Haverford Monthly Meeting had maintained a direct corres- 
pondence with the Yearly Meeting of Wales, and there is not 
wanting other proofs in the minutes of that meeting, that the 
attachment of the Welsh settlers for their native land was 
stronger than that which obtained among the English. 

Ellis Pugh, a Welsh preacher of some eminence, at first 
settled in Radnor, but subsequently removed to Gwynedd, where 
he died in 1718. He paid a religious visit to his native land in 
1707, and, upon his return the following year, " a concern 
came upon him" to write a book, " to direct the unlearned 
Britains of low degree, to know God and Christ, the Life 
eternal;" which he wrote for the most part during his last 
sickness. 

Though Haverford and Gwynedd now constituted separate 
monthly meetings, they united in the serious concern of publish- 
ing this Welsh book, each meeting having appointed a committee 



1721.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 231 

of twelve on the subject. Having been carefully examined and 
approved, it was formally recommended to " the overseers of 
the Press at Philadelphia." The approbation of this tribunal, 
after some delay, was secured, shortly after which the Welsh 
edition of the book was published under the authority of the 
quarterly meeting. This is probably the first work ever pub- 
lished in America for the especial benefit of the mother country, 
and perhaps the only one printed in the Welsh language. This 
book was published in the English language in 1727, having 
been translated by Rowland Ellis, and corrected by David 

Disputes in respect to the line between Philadelphia and 
Chester Counties, north of Radnor, commenced in 1720, and 
were continued for several years. 

The road leading from Philadelphia to Conestogo, through 
Merion and Radnor, was confirmed as far as Thomas Moore's 
mill, on the Brandywine, by the Governor and Council ; but 
two roads having been laid out beyond the Brandywine, by order 
of the Chester Court, all orders for opening them were for the 
present superseded. 

Two brothers, John and Edmund Cartlidge, who were born 
and brought up in what is now Upper Darby township, after the 
death of their father, removed to the neighbourhood of the Cones- 
togo, and became Indian traders. Unfortunately, these men 
became embroiled with a drunken Seneca Indian at some point 
west of the Susquehanna, and in some way the Indian lost his 
life. The brothers, and especially John Cartlidge, were accused 
of the homicide. News of this unpleasant event having reached 
the ears of the Governor and Council, they regarded it a 
matter of sufficient moment to require prompt investigation, and 
accordingly James Logan and Colonel French proceeded imme- 
diately to Conestogo, with the Sheriif of Chester County, 
arrested the parties, and, upon Indian testimony, brought the 
brothers to Philadelphia. John Cartlidge held a commission as 
Justice of the Peace for Chester County at the time, from which 
office he was immediately removed; and the Government felt it 
necessary to enter into long and expensive negotiations with the 
Five Nations, as an atonement for this serious injury and msult 
offered to their nation.^ 

This year, the Particular Meetings of Newtown, Goshen, and 

1 A copy of each edition of this book is in the possession of the author. 

2 The apprehension that the death of this Seneca Indian might incite the Five 
Nations to make war upon the Province, induced the Governor and Council to prose- 
cute this affair much beyond its real merits. If the Indian lost his life by the hands 
of the Cartlidges, it was in self-defence. They never had a trial— in fact, no reliable 
evidence was brought against them. What became of John is not known to the 
author, but Edmund returned to the Conestogo, and maintained a respectable standing 
in society. He was a member of the first Grand Jury of Lancaster County. 



232 HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. [1722. 

Uwchlan were constituted a separate monthly meeting, to be 
called Cfoshen Monthly Meeting. In these meetings the Welsh 
Friends were largely in the ascendancy, and on that account 
there was a peculiar propriety in thus uniting them in one eccle- 
siastical community. 

The first instance of a disownment of a member by the Society 
of Friends, within the limits of this County, for a failure to pay 
his honest debts, occurs in the early part of 1722. It must be 
observed, however, that it was the constant practice of the 
Society to extend relief to members who were brought into 
pecuniary diflSculty through misfortune. 

The unsettled line between Pennsylvania and Maryland was 
the source of considerable difficulty. The officers of Cecil 
County insisted upon collecting taxes in Nottingham and other 
border townships, and they even went so far as to make 
prisoners of Isaac Taylor and Elisha Gatchel, for surveying 
lands in that vicinity. These gentlemen were both magistrates 
of Chester County, the former being also a Representative in the 
Assembly.^ 

The public pound at Chester had been located west of the 
creek, but from the following minute extracted from the proceed- 
ings of the Court, it will appear that the most public situation 
in the borough Avas now secured for it : 

"Upon application of some of the inhabitants of Chester for 
a, pound m the said town of Chester, whereupon the court or- 
ders, that there be a Pound erected in the Market place in the 
borough of Chester, forty foot square, well fenced with posts and 
railings, and a good rack in the middle of s** pound, and that 
Rich*^ Marsden be Keeper of the pound. To act, do, and perform 
according as the act makes mention &c." 

A pound was also ordered for Aston at the same Court — John 
Carter to be the keeper. 

There were no less than three persons under sentence of death 
at this time in Chester gaol. Petitions were presented to the 
Governor and Council, asking that the execution of the sentence 
might be respited, until such time as the pleasure of the king 
could be known therein. This application was successful in re- 
spect to two of the prisoners, one of whom was a woman ; but 
the third, William Battin, who had been convicted " of divers 
horrid complicated crimes," was ordered to be executed "and 
hung in Irons in the most public place, at such time as the Go- 
vernor shall appoint." 

The earliest list of taxables of the County of Chester, that 
has come to the notice of the author, is contained in the regular 
assessment of the county, made in 1722, which is still on file in 

1 Col. Rec iii. 212-214. 



1722.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 233 

the Commissioners' Office at West Chester. As the best means 
of showing the extent of the settlements that had been made at 
this early period, this assessment has been copied entire, (omit- 
ting each person's tax), so far as relates to the townships em- 
braced within the limits of Delaware County ; including, how- 
ever, the whole of the townships of Birmingham and Thornbury. 
The rate was 8d. in the pound, and 9s. poll tax on each single 
freeman. (See Appendix, Note G.) 

By making a proper allowance for the parts of Birming- 
ham and Thornbury not included in Delaware County, the tax- 
ables within its present limits at this early date, numbered 
about 500. As servants were not taxed, it will be safe to esti- 
mate six inhabitants to each taxable, making the population of the 
district now included in Delaware County, at this time, about 
3000. As a general rule the assessment, or valuation, was at 
the rate of <£20 per 100 acres of land, but there appears to have 
been a little variation in some of the townships. The whole 
amount of tax imposed within our county's limits was about 
£278 10s. ; equal to a little more than $700. 

Beyond the limits of what is now Delaware County, this an- 
cient assessment embraced West Conestogoe township, contain- 
ing 64 taxables; East Conestogoe, 147; Peque "& part of & 
former District," 13 ; Tre" y Dyfrin, 31 ; White-Land, 13; East- 
Town, 12; Willis-Town, 20; Ywchlan, 20; Charles- Town, 19; 
Nantmel, 18; Skoolkil, 27; West-Town, 9; Sadsbury, 20; East 
Nottingham, 42; Marlborough, 39; West Nottingham, 29; 
Kennet, 67; Goshen, 19; Bradford, 38; Cain, 33; New Gar- 
den, 94, and "the inhabitants adjacent, belonging to New Gar- 
den, 18, — making in the whole of Chester County, which then 
extended to the Susquehanna, the number of taxables 1345, and 
the population about 8,070. 

The very small population of some of the least remote town- 
ships, as Westown and Eastown, was owing to the large tracts of 
land held in those townships by non-residents. The large extent 
of territory embraced in some of the most distant townships, 
bordering on the Susquehanna, will account for the relatively 
large number of taxables returned from that region. 

The wide-spread reputation of Penn's government, for free- 
dom and religious toleration, had attracted settlers from different 
countries, and of different religious beliefs. A large proportion 
of these settled in the district now embraced in Lancaster 
County, while very many of the earliest settlers in Chester 
County, as it is now constituted, emigrated from that part of the 
original county of that name, out of which Delaware County was 
formed. 

But little of local interest transpired in 1723. The act passed 



234 HiSTOHY or Delaware county. [1724. 

by the legislature authorizing the issue of bills of credit, and 
making the same current, would, of course, have the effect of 
giving, in some degree, a fictitious value to property that would 
be felt in every part of the Province. This was the first paper 
currency issued in Pennsylvania.^ 

An act was also passed in 1723, to reduce the rate of interest 
of money from eight to six per cent., which has continued to be 
the legal rate to the present time. 

Among objects for which the Society of Friends of the county 
contributed money in 1723, was for the finishing of Shrews- 
bury (N. J.) Meeting-house, "for the accommodation of the 
Quarterly Meeting." 

As a punishment for crimes, standing in the pillory has become 
more frequent than formerly. At the November term of the 
Chester Court, this year, a man was sentenced to be sold for 
three years, "to serve after the manner of a servant" for the 
payment of his gaol fees. Prisoners frequently petitioned to the 
Court for the privilege of being thus sold ; from which it may 
be inferred that the jails of that day did not afford such com- 
fortable quarters for malefactors as the prisons of modern date. 

The ancient, but substantial building, now occupied as a Town 
Hall in the borough of Chester, and which was used as a Court- 
house up to the time of the removal of the seat of justice 
to Media, was erected in 1724. The small addition to the 
rear of the building was erected at a much later date. An act 
was passed this year, "to enable trustees to sell the old court 
house and prison, belonging to the borough and county of Ches- 
ter." This sale was effected the following year, and the record 
shows, conclusively, that the "old court house" referred to was 
the one built about the year 1694, upon a lot purchased from 
John Hoskins, and for which a deed was executed by him to the 
county in 1697. The purchase money paid by the county was 
£8. The trustees sold the property to William Preston, of Phi- 
ladelphia, Mariner, for X27.^ The following extract, from the 
proceedings of the Court, shows that the new Court-house was, 
for a time, made the depository of the public records : 

"At a Court of Private Sessions held at the ^ House of John 
Hannum in Concord ]5* of December 1724, Joseph Parker 
having petitioned this Court setting forth y^ great danger y^ 
Records of y'' County lay in, as well by Casualities of fire, as 
other accidents which might happen, and refers y® same to our 
consideration to provide a place for keeping y^ said Records in 
w* may be of greater security, whereupon y® Court upon mature 

1 Two acts were passed this year — one authorizing the issue of £15,000, and the 
other £30,000. Proud ii. 173. 
'2 See Recorder's Office, Westchester, Book A, 190. 



1724.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 235 

consideration of the same, allows y® peticon to be reasonable, & 
orders y® Clerk to present y** same before y® Commissioners & 
Assessors of y® same County in order that they may fit a room 
in y* new Court house for keeping y^ s*^ Records in, & when pre- 
pared order y® s* Clerk to transmit all of y'^ said Records to y* 
place so appropriated accordingly, and not to be removed with- 
out y'' Court's direction."^ 

It would be difficult now to see how any additional security 
against casualties by fire was given to the Records, by removing 
them to the Court-house. 

It will not be uninteresting to the reader to know in what 
repute our new paper currency was held in the other provinces, 
and also to have some light on the kind of coin then in general 
circulation. The following extract from a letter from Elizabeth 
Webb, a very intelligent public Friend of Birmingham, while on 
a religious visit to Long Island, Rhode Island, &c., furnishes this 
information. The letter is dated at " Newport on Road Island 
ye 24*11 Qf ye gth jj^Q_ 1724," and is addressed to Joseph Brinton 
of Thornbury. After treating of religious and social afi'airs, 
she speaks of having made arrangements for the purchase of a 
horse, and advises her friend how to proceed in case " he hath a 
mind for one." " Our paper money," she says, '■'•will not do, 
and if thou get some changed, it should be for whole pieces of 
gold for that which is cut will not pass but at X6. an ounce, but 
the Pistole goes for £1. 8s. Oc?. and a Moidore at <£2. 4s. and 
a half Pistole for 14s." 

A bill was passed this year prescribing the forms of declara- 
tion of fidelity, affirmation, &c., entirely adapted to the con- 
scientious scruples of Quakers on the subject of taking oaths. 
Laws of a similar character had been passed, but they failed to 
meet with the royal sanction, and the people were consequently 
thrown back on the English act, which many could not sanction. 
Acts passed by the Council and Assembly usually had the force 
of laws until they were repealed by the home government, but 
this one was not to become a law until it had received the appro- 
bation of his majesty. This approbation, it will be seen hereafter, 
was not secured without the employment of money. 

A complaint was made to the Assembly by the Indians re- 
siding about the Brandywine. They represent that after the 
sale of their lands to Wm. Penn, " he had re-conveyed to them 
a tract a mile in extent on each side of the creek, the deed for 
which, had been burned with the cabin in which it had been 
deposited ; and that the English had made settlements within 
this tract, had injured their corn, and by dams on the creek, 
had impeded the passage of fish." Though distrusting the 

1 Quarter Sessions Rec. West Chester. 



236 HISTOKY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1725. 

Indian title, their deputies were received with respect by the 
Assembly, and a promise made to them that their complaints 
should be inquired into and redressed.^ 

The difficulties and disputes about the circular line between 
New Castle and Chester Counties were again renewed this year, 
but no definite result was arrived at. 

The Affirmation act, before referred to, at length received the 
royal confirmation. The following extracts from the Records 
of Haverford Monthly Meeting, at once show the great anxiety 
of Friends on the subject, and the appliances that were used in 
those days to secure the royal sanction to a most just and 
reasonable measure.^ 

3'''^ mo. 13. " This meeting refers to the consideration of ffrds 
— getting of money to pay for negotiating y® late affirmation act 
in Great Britain." 

6*^ mo. 12. " Lewis David, Thomas Thomas and Edward 
William are desired to take frd's contributions in Cash to defray 
the Charge of having the Royal assent to y*^ affirmation act & 
make report thereof to next meeting." 

7*'' mo. 9. " The friends appointed to receive frds contribu- 
tions towards having y* Royall assent to y'^ Affirmation act is 
continued and advised to press friends to bring it in as soon as 
may be, in order to be paid to Rich'^ Hill before y" yearly 
meeting." 

10*'^ mo. 9*''. " Edw'^ Williams produced a receipt signed by 
Rich'' Hill for eight pounds eighteen shillings, received of him 
and Thomas Thomas towards negotiating the affirmation act, for 
account of this meeting." 

Besides the above subscription, this monthly meeting sub- 
scribed this year X5 10s. Id. towards building Horsham meeting- 
house, and £10 10s. 4:d. towards the redemption of the wife and 
children of John Hanson of New England, who had been carried 
off by the Indians. Chester Monthly Meeting also contributed 
<£10 4s. for this latter purpose. 

The minutes of Haverford Monthly Meeting go to show that 
Sewell's History of the Quakers was now in press, and that the 
yearly meeting had subscribed for 500 copies. Fourteen of 
these copies were taken by Merion and Radnor meetings. The 
subscription for this work had been commenced in 1723. 

An application was made to the Court, by an insolvent debtor 

1 Gordon's Hist. Penna. 194. 

2 The confirmation of this act was received in the Province with so much satis- 
faction, that it gave rise to two addresses to the throne — one from the Assembly and 
the other from the Yearly Meeting. For the form of the Declaration of fidelity 
and abjuration, see Proud's Hist. Penna. ii. 191. The Affirmation was the same as 
that now in use, and that which has been adopted by nearly nine-tenths of the citizens 
of our county 



1727.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 237 

in prison, "for relief from his imprisonment; and y* his creditors 
may accept his servitude as y* law directs, having no other way 
to satisfy the same." The Court directs that he shall serve his 
creditors four years; the persons accepting his servitude to pay 
the costs. But if the creditors do not accept of his servitude in 
the space of thirty days, then the prisoner is to he sold for 
four years. There was also a convict ordered to he sold for four 
years, for the payment of his fine, fees and expenses. 

The government of the Province, in 1726, passed out of the 
hands of Governor Keith. His successor was Patrick Gordon, 
among whose earliest acts was the recommendation of the culture 
of silk, which he also urged in a letter to the Lords Commis- 
sioners of Trade. 

The Commission of the Peace for Chester County, under the 
new administration, was filled up with the following names: John 
Wright, Richard Hayes, Henry Pearce, Nathaniel Newlin, John 
Wood, Henry Hayes, Isaac Taylor, Elisha Gatchell, Samuel 
Nutt, John Crosby, Abraham Emmett, Jun., Tho. E,ied, George 
Assheton, Tobias Hendricks, Andrew Cornish, Mercer Brown, 
and Evan Lewis. 

The Indians living on, or near a branch of the Brandywine, 
complained to the Governor and Council that their fishing was 
hindered by the erection of a mill and dam on that Creek, in 
New Castle County. It appears there was a law in the Lower 
Counties requiring this dam to be left open in the fishing season, 
which had not been complied with. 

While the poor Indian was thus seeking redress from the provin- 
cial authorities for injuries inflicted upon his fishing interest, these 
authorities were imploring the home government for relief from 
impositions imposed upon theirs. The shad fisheries of the Dela- 
ware were largely productive beyond the home consumption, but 
an injudicious duty imposed by Parliament on salt, almost ex- 
cluded salted shad from commerce. New England had obtained 
an exemption from this duty, and the application of Pennsyl- 
vania for the same was entrusted to a Mr. Perry of London. 
This gentleman was at length successful; and so highly did the 
provincial authorities esteem his services, that they rewarded 
them with a donation of 150 guineas.^ 

News of the death of the King having been received, his Royal 
Highness the Prince of Wales was, on the 31st of August, pro- 
claimed King, by order of the Governor and Council. As a 
matter of course all Commissions were renewed. James James 
was added to the list of Justices for Chester County. 

An addition to Providence meeting-house having been erected 
last year, a proposition was now made for furnishing the build- 
ing with a gallery " to accommodate large gatherings." 

1 Gordon's Hist. Penna. 205. 



238 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1728. 

It is probable the first meeting-house in Cain was erected in 
1727, as that meeting had selected ground for said purpose, 
"upon the farther side of the valley upon the mountain," and had 
secured the consent of Concord Monthly Meeting "to proceed." 

In 1728, considerable difficulties occurred with the Indians in 
the more remote settlements, which were attended with the most 
serious and melancholy consequences. A small band of foreign 
Indians called Twetchtweys appeared in the neighborhood of 
'■'■ the Iron works at Mahanatawny,''' armed with guns, pistols, 
and swords, committing depredations and alarming the inhabit- 
ants. As the alarm spread, the danger became magnified, and 
the stories of Indian murders gained credence. Under appre- 
hensions of danger thus created, two brothers, John and Walter 
Winter, shot three Indians at a place called Cassea, one man and 
two women, and wounded two Indian girls. The news of this 
unfortunate event coming to the ears of the Governor, he caused 
the brothers, who were respectable farmers, to be arrested by 
the method of Hue and Cry, together with their neighbor, 
Morgan Herbert, as accessory to the murder. The prisoners 
were incarcerated in the noisome dungeon of the old prison at 
Chester, and there securely chained ; but had their trial without 
much delay before the Justices of the Supreme Court, who then 
held the Courts of Oyer and Terminer for the whole Province. 
They were all convicted; but Herbert, upon the petition of the 
people of the county, and more particularly upon that of "David 
Lloyd, Rich'^ Hill and Jer. Langhorne, the Justices of the Court," 
was pardoned. The Justices assert in their petition, that " though 
in strictness of Law, Herbert's ofience may he adjudged murder, 
yet it appeared to them, that he was not active in perpetrating 
thereof, but unhappily fell into y" company of those that com- 
mitted it." It seems strange that the law could be so strictly 
construed as to convert a misfortune into a crime. The two 
Winters were executed ; but the facts that have come down to us 
would warrant the belief, that in committing the homicide they 
acted upon the belief that the Indians were actually engaged in 
war against the whites.^ 

1 Col. Rec. iii. 327, &c. Penn. Arch. i. 218, &c. For the trial, see Docket of the 
Supreme Court, in the oflBee of the Prothonatory, at Media, from which the following 
record of the trial of the Winters is extracted: — 
" Chester ss. 

At a Court of Oyer & Terminer & Gaol Delivery held at Chester for y^ County 
of Chester the 19"^ day of June 1728. 

Before David Lloyd, "j 

RiCHD. Hill, > Esqrs 3d 

Jeremiah Langhorne, J " 

Dom. Rex. ^ Who were Indicted for murdering an Indian Woman for which 
a ( they were arraigned, and pleaded not guilty, and for their tryal 

Jno. Winter & ^ put themselves upon God & y<= country, and the Petty Jury being 
Walter Winter J called, and appeared, to wit, Henry Hays, George Ashbridge, Wil- 
liam Home, Peter Worrall, George Wood, 'R.ioYx^ Jones, Abraham Lewis, Benjamin 
Clift, John Davis, Tho. Vernon, John Tomkins & Evan Howell, [who] upon their re- 



1729.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 239 

On account of " several indecencies having been used towards 
the members of Assembly attending the service of the country in 
Philadelphia, by rude and disorderly persons," a proposition was 
made to change the place of meeting, and Chester was desig- 
nated as the most suitable place. The Governor suggested a 
continuance of the sittings of the Assembly for some time at 
Philadelphia, but that if upon further experience the members 
continued of the same sentiment, he and the Council agreed that 
they should adjourn to Chester. This threat to remove the seat 
of Government no doubt had the effect of securing the members 
from any further indignities, and prevented Chester from being 
a second time the capital of Pennsylvania. 

Early in 1729, Lancaster was organized as a County, without 
any specified boundary, except the line that separated it from 
Chester County. This line was run by John Taylor, aided by 
eleven Commissioners. The name of Lancaster for the new 
County was suggested by John Wright, one of the Commis- 
sioners, who had emigrated from Lancashire, England, in 1714, 
and settled in Chester, but had removed to Columbia in 1726.^ 

An act was passed this year authorizing the emission of 
,£30,000, in bills of credit, and also one laying a duty on negroes 
imported into the Province. This latter act was repealed by the 
home government. The evils of slavery were apparent to many 
of the inhabitants of the Province, especially the Quakers, and 
it may be supposed that the act in question was intended more 
as a restraint upon the importation of slaves than as a source of 
revenue. 

It had been a long time since the Quakers first took the sub- 
ject of slavery under serious consideration, and although the 
action of their meetings had not resulted in anything of much 
practical utility, many individuals of the Society testified strongly 
against the practice of buying and selling of slaves. In 1729, 
Chester Monthly Meeting adopted the following minute, which was 
much better calculated to abolish the slave trade than the duty 
imposed by the legislature : — 

" This Monthly Meeting directs its representatives to lay be- 
fore the Quarterly Meeting, that as they were by the discipline 
prevented from fetching or importing negro slaves from their own 
country, whether it is not reasonable we should not be restricted 
from buying them when imported, and if so the Quarterly Meet- 
ing to lay it before the Yearly Meeting for concurrence." The 
subsequent efficient action of the Society towards the abolition 

speetive oath and affirmacon, do say that the af* John "Winter and Walter Winter are 
Guilty of y'^ murder aF and must be hanged by the necks until they and each of 
them be dead." 

2 Hist. Lancaster Co. 240 j Col. Rec. iii. 377. 



240 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1730. 

of slavery appears to have had its origin in this action of Ches- 
ter Monthly Meeting. 

Matters of smaller moment also claimed the attention of the 
meetings about this time ; as the practice of making large provi- 
sions at funerals, and the serving of those who attended them 
with wine and other liquors; the erection of tombstones, &c. 
Concord Meeting also bore its testimony against putting names 
and dates upon coffins, and decided, "that in future members 
should be dealt with for such idolatrous practice." 

The subject of the Indian claim of one mile on each side of 
the Brandywine was formally brought to the notice of Governor 
Gordon, by a letter from Checochinican, a principal chief. This 
functionary bases the claim of the Indians upon "awrighting 
for the creek of Brandywine, up to the head thereof, with all y® 
land a mile wide of y^ creek on each side," which their brother, 
William Penn, was pleased to grant to them after they had sold 
their interest to him, but " which wrighting, by some accident 
was now lost." He acknowledges, however, that they had sold 
this land "up to a rock in y^ said creek, it being in the line of 
the land of Abraham Marshall." Their complaint now is, that 
Nathaniel Newlin, a member of Assembly, who had purchased 
some of the land, but who had given them a writing in 1726, 
"that neither he nor his heirs would, in any way, disturb or mo- 
lest them in the free and peaceable enjoyment thereof," had, 
contrary to the same, sold his land, greatly to their disgust; that 
they had been forbid "so much as to make use of timber grow- 
ing thereon, for y® convenience of building some cabins, & fur- 
ther that the town at the Head of the Brandywine is surveyed 
to one James Gibbons and many more, and now has an assurance 
of a conveyance of the same from the Com'^ of property, as he 
himself says by James Steel." In a postcript to his letter, the 
worthy chief says, that "James Logan promised to me, that 
James Gibbons, nor any body else, should never have a confir- 
mation, thereof, nor any other person within our claim." What 
order was taken upon this letter does not appear.^ 

A new commission of the peace was issued in 1730, to the 
following persons, viz. : Richard Hayes, Henry Pierce, Henry 
Hayes, Elisha Gatchell, John Crosby, Abraham Emmitt, junr., 
Mercer Brown, James James, John Perry, James Gibbons, 
Joseph Pennock, Samuel Hollingsworth, Joseph Brinton, and 
Nicholas Pyle. The reason assigned for the new commission was, 
"that divers of those named in the last had declined to act," and 
that one George Asheton "had acted but too much." 

It was ordered by the Court, with the consent of the Commis- 
sioners and Assessors of the county, " that Nathan Worley he 

1 Penna. Archives, i. 239. 



1731.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 241 

master and Keeper of the House of Correction or Workhouse in 
the borough of Chester for the term of one year, if he behave 
himself well which s'' time is to commence on the 25*^ day of 
March next, and that the Burgesses of said borough shall from 
time to time, give such directions therein as they may adjudge 
proper." 

Haverford Monthly Meeting, after having appointed a com- 
mittee to aid the Valley Friends in fixing on a site for a meeting- 
house, at length leaves them at their liberty to build the said 
house " at the Grave Yard near Lewis Walker's Dec*^, which was 
left by the said Lewis by his last will for that purpose." A 
temporary meeting was, from time to time, authorized by Haver- 
ford Meeting, to be held at Richard Harrisson's School-house, 
but it does not appear that it ever grew into a regular meeting. 

The Chester Monthly had not as yet received any response to 
their application to the quarterly meeting, and through it to the 
yearly meeting, on the propriety of purchasing imported slaves. 
In anticipation of any action by these meetings, this monthly 
meeting, towards the close of the year 1730, adopted a minute 
that cautioned Friends " against purchasing imported Negroes, 
it being disagreeable to the sense of the meeting, and that such 
as are likely to be found in the practice, be cautioned how they 
offend therein." 

The act of the Provincial Legislature, imposing a duty on im- 
ported slaves and criminals, did not meet with much favor from 
the home government. Instructions were transmitted to Gover- 
nor Gordon against laying duties on either negroes or felons; 
the latter being in direct opposition to an act of Parliament "/or 
the further preventing Robery, Burglary, and other felonies, and 
for the more effectual transportation of Felons." 

The first mission from the Roman Catholic Church was estab- 
lished within the limits of Delaware County about the year 1730, 
or perhaps a little earlier. The mission was from an establish- 
ment of the Jesuit Society in Maryland, and was set up at the 
residence of Thomas Willcox, at Ivy Mills, in Concord township. 
The church services at the Ivy Mills Mission have been conducted 
in a private dwelling for a century and a quarter; at first in 
that of Thomas Willcox, by periodical visits of missionaries from 
Maryland ; next at the residence of his son, Mark Willcox, and 
subsequently in that of the late James M. Willcox, Esq., where it 
was continued till the erection of the neat Catholic Church in the 
immediate vicinity. At first the congregation was very small 
and it continued so for many years, but of late the number 
professing that faith has become very considerable, chiefly by 
foreign immigration. 

Pennsylvania had been peculiarly prosperous under the ad- 
16 



242 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1732. 

ministration of Governor Gordon, and at this time contained 
more white inhabitants than all Virginia, Maryland and both 
the Carolinas.^ Its exports were large, consisting of wheat, 
flour, beef, pork, leather, fish, lumber, staves, &c. From this 
county flour and meal were important items of export, and were 
sometimes shipped by the millers. 

The wearing of a badge by criminals, indicating the crime for 
which they had been convicted, as the letter T for theft, ceases 
about this time to be inflicted as a punishment by our Court. 
Confinement in the stocks has very rarely formed any part of a 
sentence ; but still these implements of torture were maintained 
at Chester, Marcus Hook and Darby. At a town's meeting 
held in the latter township March 14th, 1732, it was agreed 
" that there shall be a pair of stocks built in some public place 
in Lower Darby, and the charges of the same shall be paid of 
the Town's stock now in the hands of Thomas Worth, one of the 
overseers of the poor."^ In the absence of facts on the subject, 
it may be presumed that the smaller kinds of misdemeanors were 
punished by means of the stocks, upon the authority of a justice 
of the peace, a chief burgess, or perhaps, in earlier times, upon 
that of a town meeting. 

Licenses for keeping a tavern or an ordinary, were still 
granted by the Governor, upon the recommendation of the 
Court, Some of the reasons assigned by the petitioners for 
wishing to engage in the business, would appear rather singular 
at this time. Thus, Wm. Surnam, who has, " for divers years 
past lived in Middletown in good credit and esteem, near and 
convenient to the public road, who has for the greater part of 
his residence there followed the occupation of Malt making & 
the Brewing of Beer for a livelihood, but being greatly oppressed 
by travellers, and the constant visitation of his wonted acquain- 
tances, has been (as it were) forced to give continually gratis the 
fruits of his labor." The application was unsuccessful. 

Grifiith Evans, of Haverford, was located at a convenient 
stage, and had a dwelling-house suitable for travellers " on the 
great road y* leads from the Branches of the Brandywine & 
Goshen & several other parts," and withal was "an ancient 
man and his wife also well stricken in years & subject to lame- 
ness." Grifiith kept the well-established stand known as the 
Old Frog in that day. It was located a short distance above 
Cooperstown, in Haverford. 

1 This statement is on the authority of an anonymous writer of this year. It is ex- 
tracted by Anderson and quoted by Proud. Other authorities make the population of 
Virginia alone exceed that of Pennsylvania. Perhaps the difficulty may be recon- 
ciled, by including or excluding the negro population. See Holmes' Ann. ii. 132. In 
a single year, (1729) 6208 immigrants arrived in Pennsylvania. lb. 123. 

^ Upper Darby Township Book. 



1733.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 243 

Hannah Penn, the widow of the late Proprietary, and his son, 
Springett, having died, John, Thomas, and Richard, his three 
remaining sons, became joint Proprietaries of Pennsylvania. 
Thomas Penn came over to the Province for the first time in 
1732, and arrived at Chester on the afternoon of the 11th of 
August. An express was immediately sent to Philadelphia, 
where the Assembly and Council were in session. The Secre- 
tary of the Council was forthwith dispatched to Chester, with 
the compliments and congratulations of the Governor and Board 
to the new joint Proprietary upon his safe arrival, and " to ac- 
quaint him, that to-morrow morning they would in person pay 
their respects to him." Accordingly, on the next day, the Go- 
vernor and all the members of Council who were able to travel, 
accompanied by a very large number of gentlemen, visited 
Chester, " waited on the Honorable Proprietary and paid him 
their compliments. After dinner, the Proprietary with his com- 
pany, now grown very numerous, sett out for Philadelphia, near 
to which place he was met by the Mayor, Recorder and Alder- 
men, with a great body of People. The Recorder, in the name 
of the Mayor and Commonalty of the City, made a congratula- 
tory speech, which the Proprietary answered, &c." On the 15th 
of the month, the Representatives sent in their ^^ Humble ad- 
dress,'' which contains much less adulation than was betrayed 
by the part taken by the Governor, Council and municipal au- 
thorities of the city, in the affair. 

An impostor appeared in 1732 among the meetings com- 
posing Haverford Monthly Meeting of Friends, and successfully 
passed himself off as a Quaker preacher. His name was John 
Cruise, and it was not until after he had left, which was " with- 
out making satisfaction," that his true character became known. 
A committee was promptly appointed to caution Friends else- 
where as to his character. They eventually received word that 
he had removed to North Carolina, to which place the committee 
were directed to write, "least he should impose upon friends." 

Difficulties between the people of Maryland and those of this 
Province were of frequent occurrence, but the scene has been 
shifted from the border of Chester County to that of Lancaster. 
Two Quakers, John Wright and Samuel Blunston, both of whom 
had emigrated from this County and settled at or near Columbia, 
were the active local managers in these troubles on behalf of 
Pennsylvania, and they certainly performed their part with 
ability and energy. 

Commissioners on the part of both Provinces, with Surveyors, 
met at Newcastle in February, for the purpose of running the 
circular line, preliminary to the adjustment of the other boun- 
daries. This resulted in nothing but angry disputes brough 



244 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1735. 

about by unreasonable suggestions from the Maryland side in the 
controversy.^ The nature of these suggestions, and the manner 
of conducting the controversy, will be better understood by con- 
sulting a correspondence between Benj. Eastburn, the Surveyor- 
General of Pennsylvania, and a Parson Jones, of Maryland, the 
original of which is on file in the Surveyor-General's office at 
Harrisburg. 

An agreement having been entered into between the Proprie- 
taries and Lord Baltimore, as to the principles that should govern 
in the settlement of the boundaries between the two Provinces, 
and between Maryland and the Lower Counties, the Governor 
addressed a circular letter to the Justices of Chester and other 
border counties, enjoining them to observe certain directions 
therein laid down, with the view of preserving the peace until 
the lines could be actually run. It was a long time, however, 
before this took place. 

Late at night on the 19th of September, 1734, news of the arrival 
of John Penn, the elder brother of Thomas, was brought to Phila- 
delphia by express from Newcastle. Early on the next morn- 
ing, his brother, Thomas Penn, with a number of gentlemen, 
proceeded to Chester to receive him, but he did not land there 
until late in the evening, and remained there all night. On the 
morning of the 21st the party proceeded towards Philadelphia, 
and were met at the Schuylkill by the Mayor, Recorder and 
Commonalty, as in the case of his brother Thomas. John did 
not remain long in the country, but returned the next year to 
adjust some dispute that Lord Baltimore had raised in respect 
to the interminable boundary question. 

The Yearly Meeting of Friends, in 1735, adopted various re- 
commendations, among which may be enumerated : punctuality 
in the payment of debts to the Crown, and quit-rents to the 
Proprietors ; against being concerned in lotteries ; against large 
provisions at marriages and burials ; against the importation of 
negroes, or the buying of them after being imported ; against 
the frequent use of drams, and the use of strong liquors in their 
families, and they also repeated their former advice in respect 
to grave-stones. These recommendations were generally adopted 
by the several meetings of this County, especially that in respect 
to negroes, which may indeed be regarded as the first effective 
blow inflicted on the slave trade. 

It does not appear that up to this time lotteries had been in 
vogue in the Province. This year the Proprietaries proposed to 
sell by way of Lottery 100,000 acres of land, and it may have 
been that the admonition of the yearly meeting on that subject, 

1 Col. Ree. iii. 497. 



,1736.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 245 

was to guard Friends against becoming the dupes of this magni- 
cent swindle.^ 

Chester Particular Meeting of Friends appears to be engaged 
in the erection of a new meeting-house. Permission was granted 
to that meeting to sell their old house, which was accordingly 
done.^ 

The number of taxables in the County in 1722 was 500. The 
number taken from an assessment made in 1735 is 800 — making 
the population, on an estimate of six persons to one taxable, 
4800, or an increase of 1800 inhabitants in 13 years. Owing to 
the wretched system of farming adopted by the early settlers, 
the lands at first placed under culture were exhausted, and many 
families removed further into the interior, and encountered the 
task of clearing new lands, rather than remain upon those that 
had been exhausted, either by their fathers or themselves. 

The assessment or valuation in 1735 was no higher than in 
1722. The tax was about one-third less, being at the rate of two 
pence in the pound; the poll tax on single freemen was 6s., while 
in 1722 it was 9s. Upper Chichester and Upper Darby appear 
as distinct municipalities in this assessment, though the latter was 
not then organized as a separate township for all purposes. The 
tax for the whole county was only ,£160. 

After an unusually successful administration of about ten 
years. Governor Gordon died in the summer of 1736, leaving to 
his successor, James Logan, who was then President of the Coun- 
cil, some unadjusted Indian troubles, and an almost endless series 
of Maryland border disputes. Logan administered the govern- 
ment for about two years. In the absence of a Governor, there 
could be no legislation, and of course no laws were passed during 
the administration of James Logan. 

The advice of the yearly meeting against the importation of 
negroes, and buying them after being imported, and the advice 
against "the frequent use of drams, or other strong liquors, in 
families, and particularly giving them to children," was repeated 
and enjoined by both Chester and Concord Monthly Meetings. 

1 There is a printed scheme of this lottery among the unlabeled files in the ofiice of 
the Surveyor-General at Harrisburg. The proposition was, " to sell by way of lottery 
100,000 acres of land, and estimate the same at the settled price of £15 10s. current 
money of this Province for 100 acres, which amounts to the sum of £15,500, and that 
the same be purchased by the sale of 7760 tickets at Forty Shillings each, [which] like- 
wise amounts to £16,500." 

The quit-rent on this land was to be reduced from 4s. 2d. sterling to Is. per 100 
acres, but the usual reservation in respect to mines was to remain. There were 1293 
prizes, and 6467 blanks. The land was distributed thus among the prize tickets, viz.: 
one of 3000 acres ; 2 of 1600 each; 10 of 1000 ; 20 of 600; 140 of 200 ; 160 of 100 ; 
250 of 60, and 720 of 26 acres each. The first ticket drawn was entitled to 200 acres, 
and the last to 300 acres. 

^ This was the building in which tradition has erroneously convened the first As- 
sembly of Pennsylvania. 



246 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1737. 

This advice was frequently repeated before any further steps were 
taken on the subject. 

Bradford Monthly Meeting, to be composed of Cain and 
Bradford Meetings, was established in 1736 by authority of 
Chester Quarterly Meeting. 

The crossing of the Brandywine Creek, at Chadds' Ford, was 
frequently interrupted by high water and ice, and the settlements 
had become so numerous west of that stream that the establish- 
ment of a ferry became necessary. The following paper, dated 
on the 30th of August, 1737, the original of which is on file in 
the office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions, at West Chester, 
fully explains the establishment of this most necessary improve- 
ment : 

"John Chadds, having petitioned the Court, setting forth that 
by the concurrence of the Justices and by order of the Commis- 
sioners and assessors, a fferry being erected over Brandywine 
creek, on the road leading from Philadelphia to Nottingham, 
& no rates for the same established, prays that such rates may 
be set for the same as to the Court may seem reasonable ; where- 
upon the Court taking the same into consideration, have ad- 
judged the rates hereafter mentioned, may be demanded & taken 
by the said John Chadds or his assigns or successors in the said 
Ferry:" 

" Every horse and Rider, four pence. 
Every single person on foot, three pence, if more, two 

pence each. 
Every ox, cow or heifer, four pence each. 
For Every sheep, one penny. 

Every Hog, three half pence. 

Every Coach, waggon or Cart, one shilling and six pence. 

Every empty waggon or Cart nine pence. 

Every steed four pence. 

To the aforesaid rates, the justices have subscribed their names. 

Richard Hayes, 
John Crosby, 
Henry Hayes, 
Samuel Hollingsworth, 
John Parry, 
Abraham Emmitt, 
Caleb Coupland, 
Elisha Gatchell, 
Joseph Brinton." 

A person hailing from Beyruta, near Mount Lebanon, who 
called himself Sheck Sidi, claimed to be a Christian nobleman, 
and complained that he had suffered great persecution from the 



1738.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 247 

Turks, succeeded in gaining the confidence and sympathy of the 
Yearly Meeting of Friends, and also a contribution of 20 pis- 
toles. He was recommended to the several meetings in our 
county as a proper object of charity; but to what extent relief 
was granted does not appear. He was evidently viewed with 
some suspicion.^ 

There was much violence used by persons residing in Mary- 
land towards those residing near the supposed line, but claiming 
to belong to Pennsylvania. Though mostly confined to Lancas- 
ter County, it happened this year that Elisha Gatchell, one of 
the Justices of Chester County, was beaten and abused by rioters 
from Maryland, and subsequently carried by them into the Pro- 
vince and detained. A warrant was issued by Thomas Graeme, 
one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, for their arrest.^ The 
disagreements between the people of the Provinces had now ar- 
rived at such a pitch, caused by arrests and other indignities 
ofiered on either side, that from simple breaches of the peace, 
open hostilities seemed to be on the eve of breaking out. For- 
tunately the arrival of an order from the King and Council, on 
the subject of the boundary, made it the interest of each party 
to refrain from further hostile proceedings for the present.^ 

George Thomas, a planter of Antigua, was appointed Gover- 
nor of the Province in 1737, but did not assume the duties of 
the office till August of the next year. As a consequence of the 
gubernatorial change, it became necessary to issue a new Com- 
mission of the Peace. The following persons were appointed for 
Chester County: Richard Hayes, Henry Pearce, Henry Hayes, 
Elisha Gatchell, John Crosby, Caleb Cowpland, Abraham Emmit, 
James James, John Parry, Joseph Pennock, Samuel Holligs- 
worth, Joseph Brientnal, Joseph Heins, William Pirn, Joseph Bon- 
sall, the chief Burgesses for the time being, and Joseph Parker. 

The order of the King and Council, in respect to the Mary- 
land boundary, proved to be only temporarily beneficial. Com- 
plaints on both sides were renewed, and a revival of former out- 
rages was apprehended. These were happily averted by an 
agreement entered into, at this time, between the Proprietaries 
of both Provinces. 

The Friends at Darby found it necessary to enlarge their 
meeting-house, and accordingly " Nathan Gibson, Joseph Bon- 

1 This individual is mentioned by Smith, in his History of New Jersey. He is called 
Sheck Scidit, and is represented as a native of Berytus, and a prince of Syria. He had 
met with great misfortunes and solicited charity. He received large contributions both 
in Europe and this country, especially in New York and Philadelphia, p. 423. The 
legislature of the Province expended £37 2s. 3d. in the entertainment of this person- 
age. Col. Rec. iv. 296. 

2 Penna. Archives, i. 638; Col. Rec. iv. 229. The authorities of Maryland disa- 
vowed the arrest of Gatchell. 

^ Gordon's Hist. Penna. 221. 



248 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1738. 

sail, Samul Bunting and John Davis are appointed undertakers, 
to look after the said inlargement and sett the work." This was 
an enlargement of the old house on the hill within the grave- 
yard. 

Folly has her votaries in all ages, but the particular manner 
in which they make their oblations to the fantastic deity, is 
varied by time and circumstances. It may be inferred from a 
minute of Darby Meeting, that one of the modes selected at 
this particular period of our history, was "the vain practice of 
firing guns at marriages." As but a single instance of dealing 
for this grave offence is recorded, and the offender in that case 
made the required acknowledgment, it may be concluded, that, 
as a general rule, this vam practice prevailed among those out- 
side of the staid Society of Friends. 

Slight shocks of an earthquake had been experienced in 1726, 
and again in 1732. On the 7th of December, 1738, a severe 
shock was felt, " accompanied by a remarkable rumbling noise ; 
people waked in their beds, the doors flew open, bricks fell from 
the chimneys ; the consternation was serious, but happiiy no great 
damage ensued."^ 

The provisional agreement that had formerly been entered 
into between the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania and Maryland, 
in respect to the boundary, was directed by the King and Council 
to be enforced; and in compliance with this direction, and as a 
part thereof, it became necessary to run a temporally east and 
west line between the Provinces, fifteen miles and a quarter south 
of the latitude of the most southern part of Philadelphia, to the 
Susquehanna River, and west of that river fourteen and three- 
quarter miles south of the said latitude. The limited scope of 
this work will exclude any extended account of the survey of this 
line, or that upon nearly the same ground, but of much greater 
notoriety, known as Mason s and Dixotis, yet as the line of lati- 
tude of the most southern part of Philadelphia upon which it was 
based, passed through our county, it would not be proper to leave 
the matter wholly unnoticed. 

To run this line, Lawrence Growden and Richard Peters were 
appointed Commissioners on behalf of Pennsylvania, and Col. 
Levin Gale and Samuel Chamberlaine, on the part of Maryland. 
Benjamin Eastburn acted as surveyor on behalf of the former, 
and William Ramsey on behalf of the latter. On the 8th of 
December a true meridian line was fixed in the city of Philadel- 
phia, and when tried the next day, the magnetic variation was 
found to be five degrees and twenty-five minutes westerly. On the 
11th of the month, a true west line was run to the distance of 
about two miles, when, from the severity of the weather, the sur- 

1 Smith's Hist. N. J. 427. 



1739.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 249 

veying party was obliged to adjourn to the 5th of April following. 
Commencing again in the Spring, on the 18th of April they had 
progressed as far as the Widow Parnel's [Pennell's] in Edg- 
mont, having crossed Upper Darby, Springfield, and Upper 
Providence, in their route. Several lines had been run before, 
which Mr. Peters, in a letter to the Grovernor, says they had 
crossed several times, "but not after leaving Sam^ Levis's." 
They are now "south of the line run by John Taylor,^ and more 
south of the line run by the Jersey Commissioners." Thus far 
the work has gone on harmoniously. Two days later the party 
had arrived at James Gibbons', in Thornbury. The Maryland 
Commissioners became suspicious, because of the line running so 
far south; but after a careful comparison of Theodolites they 
became reconciled. On the 23d of April, both of the Pennsyl- 
vania Commissioners wrote to the Grovernor from an open field 
in West Bradford, which appears to be the point " where the 
line is to be set ofi" South in order to measure the fifteen miles 
and a quarter." It was about thirty-one miles from the place of 
beginning, " But they were now involved in a dispute. Col. Gale, 
on the authority of the Governor and Council of Maryland, 
claimed that the measure of the fifteen and a quarter miles 
should be made superficially without any allowance for the alti- 
tude of the hills, while the Pennsylvania Commissioners very 
properly claimed this allowance. Mr. Bastburn had accompanied 
the Jersey Qommissioners last December, and had ascertained from 
actual calculation that the difference between the two plans of 
measurement did not exceed twenty-five perches. The object of 
the Commissioners, in now writing to the Governor, was to obtain 
his directions, " whether they must join with the Maryland Com- 
missioners superficially, that is to say, without allowing for the 
Altitudes of the Hills, and so make them, [the Marylanders,] an 
absolute present of 25 perches, or proceed ex parte, k how far 
over Susquehannah, or return to Philadelphia & do no more at 
present." 

On the 25th of April, the Commissioners again wrote to his 
Sonor, the Governor, dating their letter at Wm. Webb's. They 
have now become extremely jealous of the Maryland Commis- 
sioners, taking Col. Gale, one of them, "to be under instructions, 
which they had for some time apprehended, to be inconsistent 
with a disposition to run a fair Line with them," and accusing him 
of seeking some pretext for breaking with them, in order to run 
an ex parte line. After much argument, the Maryland Commis- 
sioners agreed to allow the addition of twenty -five perches to the 

1 In the office of the Surveyor-General at Harrisburg there is a map of the S. E. 
part of Pennsylvania, in which this line is laid down, though it appears to start from 
the northernmost part of the city of Philadelphia. 



250 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1739. 

surface measure, not knowing that this fully covered the whole 
difference between the two plans of measurement. This plan 
was determined upon before receiving the Governor's answer; 
the Maryland Commissioners supposing they had yielded but 
little in making the compromise, while those of Pennsylvania 
knew that the only sacrifice they had made was in form, and that 
they had really yielded nothing in substance. 

The next disagreement was about the chain to be used in the 
measurement. It was the custom to have the two-pole chain 
made one inch longer, and the four-pole chain two inches longer 
than the exact measure, to make up for inequalities and irregu- 
larities. Col. Gale contended for the chain to be reduced to the 
exact measure. After much contention, and a threat on the part 
of the Pennsylvania Commissioners to break, and run the line 
ex parte, this point was conceded by the Maryland Commissioners ; 
but at the same time these gentlemen set up a claim for an allow- 
ance of a half inch in every chain for the thickness of the sticks. 
They at length receded from this position, and the measurement 
of the meridian line was proceeded with ; and at their coming out 
at the end of the line, the Pennsylvania Commissioners " were 
greatly astonished" to find themselves "no more than 20 perches 
more south, than the corner the Jersey Commissioners had fixed 
for the end of the South line." Having commenced their mea- 
surement eighty perches south of the east and west line run by 
the Jersey Commissioners, and having the fullest confidence in 
the accuracy of their work, they concluded that the Jersey Com- 
missioners had made ''too large measure in the South line by 60 
perches." 

From the end of the South line they immediately proceeded 
to run the temporary boundary line westward to the Susquehanna, 
where, owing to sickness and death in the family of Col. Gale, 
the joint commission was broken up. Beyond the Susquehanna, 
" to the top of the most Western hill, of a range of hills called 
the Kittocktinny," distant from the place of beginning about 
eighty-eight statute miles, the line was run ex parte by the 
Pennsylvania Commissioners.^ 

In running the West line from Philadelphia, the Commis- 
sioners note several points in our County and beyond it. On 
the evening of the first day, they left off, " in the land of 
Thomas Worth of Darby township;" on the 2d day "at Samuel 
Levis' in Springfield;" on the 3d at John Worrall's in Provi- 
dence ; the 4th at the widow Yarnalls in Edgemont. Here 
meeting with unusual attraction, they reviewed part of their 
work, but on the l9th of April they were on " the plantation of 
Jacob in Thornbury township;" on that of Joseph Hunt 

1 Penna. Archives, i. 556, 558, 568 to 676, 599, 600, &c. 



1740.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 251 

in Westtown on the 20tli ; on Abraham Marshall's land in Brad- 
ford on the 21st, and on the 23d had reached " an old field 
belonging to John Newlyn, on or near its North Line," from 
whence they turned South. 

It must not be supposed that the place of stopping had any- 
thing to do with fixing the N. E. corner of Maryland. The 
only object in running Westward before measuring the 15J 
miles South, was to avoid the large streams of water, and when 
they had reached John Newlin's old fields they concluded the 
large waters of the Brandywine and Christina Creeks would be 
avoided. 

In running the South line, the land of William Wickersham 
in East Marlborough township, and that of Hugh Steward in 
New Garden are mentioned. The point at which the 15J miles 
ended was " 20 perches from the road leading to Charles 
Tenants meeting house in Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle 
County."^ 

An inquiry made by the crown in respect to the currency of 
the Province, brings to light many interesting facts, and among 
others that the emission of bills of credit had effectually excluded 
specie as a circulating medium. The report on the subject from the 
Assembly, doubtless drawn up by John Kinsey, their Speaker, 
claims that^obedience had been yielded to the provisions of the act 
of the sixth year of Queen Anne, fixing the rates of foreign coin 
in the British Plantations, up to the year 1720, but admits that 
" between which time and 1723, merchants, to make remittances 
to England, did sometimes purchase silver with gold at a small 
advance." The first act for issuing bills of credit was passed 
in 1723. The report goes on to say that, " it must indeed be 
confessed, that soon after these bills of credit were issued, as 
our trade very much increased, and far greater quantities of 
English goods were imported, the balance of our trade with 
Great Britain turned out in our disfavour, and as those bills 
were in good credit, and answered the ends of money amongst 
us, it was no longer in our power to keep any great quantities 
of silver or gold for a currency ; and therefore since that time, 
they have been seldom used in the payment of debts, but gene- 
rally bought and sold as merchandize, and shipped off to Great 
Britain to pay for those great quantities of goods, which are 
yearly imported from thence." 

The ridiculous fashion of wearing hoops, as now, prevailed 
about this period, but it found much less favor at that time than 
at present, with those of the Society of Friends. Towards the 
close of 1739 Concord Monthly Meeting testified thus against 
the practice. 

1 Penna. Archives, i. 602-614. 



252 HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. [1741, 

" A concern having taken hold against this meeting to sup- 
press pride, and it seems to appear some what in women in 
wearing of hoope pettecoats which is a great trouble to many 
minds, and it is the unanymous sense of this meeting that none 
among us be in the practice thereof, [and that] all our over- 
seers and other solid friends do inspect in their members and 
where any appear, to be guilty, do deal with them and dis- 
courage them either in that of hoops or other indecent dress." 
In spite of all the watchfulness that this minute imposed upon 
the "overseers and other solid friends," it was this year found 
that Caleb Burdshall and his wife had " a little too inconsider- 
ately encouraged women wearing of hoopst petecoats." 

The celebrated itinerant preacher, George Whitefield, visited 
this country towards the close of 1739. After having preached 
to immense numbers in Philadelphia, making many converts, it 
is recorded that he was accompanied to Chester by 150 horse- 
men, and preached there to 7000 people, and again at White- 
clay Creek to 8000, of whom as many as 3000 were on horse- 
back.^ 

Thomas Penn returned to England this year f the constant 
and violent quarrels between the Assembly and the Governor, 
in which Proprietary interests were frequently brought into the 
controversy, could not have been very agreeable to him. 

At the meeting of the Legislature in October, the Governor 
had shown a vindictive spirit in his reply to John Kinsey, the 
accomplished Speaker of the Assembly. This was followed up 
by the issue of a new general Commission of the Peace for the 
several Counties of the Province, in which his Excellency ex- 
hibited a petty revenge, unworthy of his position, by leaving 
out the names of those Justices who had opposed his adminis- 
tration. As an excuse for getting rid of some of the obnoxious 
Quaker Justices, he said he had received a letter from Mr. John 
Penn with the information " that the Court at Chester had set 
aside a man from the Jury for declining to take the affirmation 
and insisting to be qualified by Oath." John had also urged 
the Governor to appoint a majority of Justices in each County 
who " would not scruple to take, or at least administer an oath."^ 
If the charge against the Chester Justices was true, his Excel- 
lency could readily and directly have obtained a substantiation 
of all the facts, but resting alone on this circuitous hearsay 
testimony, the truth of the accusation may be fairly doubted ; 

^ Watson's Ann. i. 537. 

2 Proud, ii. 222. 

3 Col. Rec. iv. 482. It was in anticipation of removal from office, by the issuing of 
this new Commission, that Justice John Wright of Lancaster delivered his noted 
Charge to the Grand Jury of that County. See Gordon's Hist. Penna. 240 ; Proud, 
ii. 222. 



1741.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 253 

but it requires a large share of charity to wholly excuse the 
bigotry of the degenerate son of the first Proprietary, for 
making such a communication to the Governor. 

Of the Justices appointed by the Governor in 1738, shortly 
after assuming the duties of his office, he left out of the new 
Commission for Chester County, the following names : Richard 
Hayes,^ James James, John Parry, Samuel Hollingsworth, 
Joseph Brientall, and Joseph Heins, and included those of 
William Moore, Joseph Brinton, William Webb, John Mather, 
Ralph Pyle, John Taylor, and Job Rushton. 

That part of the road known as the old Lancaster or Cones- 
togo road, west of John Spruce's land in Whiteland township, 
had been laid out and opened for several years, but for some 
reason, probably because the city, or landings on tide water could 
be reached by roads then in use, a survey of this important 
thoroughfare was not made till this time.^ 

At the instance of the Grand Jury and some of the substantial 
inhabitants of Chester County complaining of abuses practised 
in that County by the use of defective weights and measures, 
the Justices petitioned the Governor for the appointment of a 
Regulator of Weights and Measures. Isaac Taylor received the 
appointment. The petitioners allege, that "they have directed 
the purchasing of standards of brass for Weights and Measures, 
according to his Majesty's standards for the Exchequer."^ 
These standards were procured by Thomas Morgan, and cost 
the County £17 12s. \ld.' 

The Jail and Court-house both appear to have been subjected 
to some renovation about this time. An order was passed by 
the Commissioners in favor of Nathan Worley "for XIO, for 
planks for flooring the two dungeons East side of the prison and 
laying the floors &c. ;" and one in favor of Thos. Morgan " for 
X5 lis. Qd. for 150 lbs spikes for laying the Dungeon s floors." 
There was also an order of X5 for plastering and ceiling the 
prison ; and one of £26 for repairing and painting the Court- 
house and prison, and another of <£14 4s. for a well in the work- 
house yard. Still other repairs were made the next year. 

The business of the County was transacted at this period by 
three Commissioners, elected as they now are. In laying taxes 
they were assisted by six persons called Assessors, who were 
chosen annually. The duties now performed by township As- 
sessors was then performed by the Constables. The tax for this 
year was laid at the house of John Chadds in Birmingham ; the 

^ Deceased. 

2 For the courses and distances of this road, see Col. Ree. iv. 503. 

3 Col. Rec. iv. 507. 

* Commissioners' Rec. West Chester. A pair of scales was purchased the next 
year. 



254 HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. [1742. 

rate being 2d. in the pound and "6s. a head upon freemen." 
The house of John Chadds was favored with the meetings of the 
Commissioners for several years. 

No less than three persons offered to serve the office of County 
Treasurer, gratis, in 1741. The Commissioners appointed 
Joshua Thompson, one of the number, but Joseph Brinton, the 
late Treasurer, complaining that he still had unsettled business 
in the office, and being willing to serve at the same cheap rate, 
Thompson relinquished the office in his favor, upon the con- 
dition, however, that he was to hold it during the year 
following. 

A proposition was made to the Commissioners for a ferry on 
the Brandywine " on the road from Concord to Maryland by the 
erection of wharfs, where the creek overflows, & renders peoples 
landing very difficult." 

In the trial of criminal cases, it appears to have been the 
practice, since the early settlement of the Province, only to em- 
ploy counsel in those of serious import. In these cases the most 
able counsel in the Province were engaged. The following 
minute from the Commissioners' books shows the amount of 
compensation allowed in such cases : 

"Allowed John Kinsey Esq"" an order on the Treas'^ for the 
sum of X3 12s. being his fees as Kings attorney at the tryall of 
James O'Donnelly and Richard Graham, 26*'' of May last." 

Besides the counsel, there was another officer specially em- 
ployed for trials in the Oyer and Terminer, as will be seen by 
another minute : 

"Allowed John Ross, Gent, an order on the Treasurer for the 
sum of three pounds ten shillings, for officiating as clerk of the 
Crown at a Court of Oyer and Terminer held at Chester, for the 
tryal of James O'Donnelly & Richard Graham, the 26*'' of May 
last." 

Richard Graham was sent away in ^Hhe Privateer," for which 
additional fees were allowed. 

Considering the scarcity of money in these early times, the 
amounts collected by the Quakers in their meetings, for char- 
itable and other purposes, is really astonishing. Haverford 
Monthly Meeting contributed in 1741 £35 6s. 10c?., and Con- 
cord meeting ,£21 10s. 6d. toward the relief of the sufferers by 
the great fire at Charleston, S. C. 

A controversy brought before Chester Monthly Meeting in 
1742, between Thomas Dell of the one part, and John Crosby 
and Peter Dicks of the other, reveals the fact, that previous to 
this time the latter had erected a forge on Crum Creek. The 
precise location of this early forge cannot at this time be desig- 
nated. 



1743.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 255 

The ferry established on the Brandywine at Chadds' Ford not 
proving to be remunerative, except when connected with the 
business of tavern-keeping, John Chadds therefore " presented 
a petition, (signed by himself and a considerable number of in- 
habitants of Chester County,) to the Commissioners and asses- 
sors, setting forth that pursuant to an agreement made with 
their predecessors in the year 1737, he built a boat and suitable 
appurtenances for the conveying of people and carriages over 
Brandywine creek, with the money that he borrowed of the 
county for that purpose, the sum of which was 30 pounds, and 
it being evident as j" petitioner conceives, that the profits of the 
said ferry, will not without some consideration, compensate for 
the charge thereof, and that the Honorable Justices, hath at 
last August Court, thought proper to deprive him the s*^ John 
Chadds from keeping a house of entertainment, near the s^ ferry, 
which he had done heretofore : They therefore request that the 
said John Chads may be acquitted & discharged from the pay- 
ment of the sum of money above mentioned, and also from the 
care and management of s*^ boat and appurtenances, and some 
other person appointed to act therein in his stead." The peti- 
tion does not appear to have been granted, for in two years 
thereafter John Chadds had paid the X30, with the interest re- 
mitted, and is again reinstated in his business of tavern-keeping. 

The fairs authorized by law were not sufficient to satisfy the 
desires of the public in this respect. Charles Connor and five 
others were this year bound over for holding a fair at Birming- 
ham, but it does not appear that any further proceedings were 
had in the matter. 

How customary it was at this period for criminals to receive 
corporal punishment by whipping, as a part or the whole penalty 
for their wrong-doings, may be inferred from the two following 
minutes taken from the Commissioners' books : 

"Allowed John Wharton an order on the Treasurer for four 
shillings for making a new whip, and mending an old one for 
the use of the County." 

"Allowed Isaac Lea an order on the Treasurer, for the sum of 
8 shillings, being for two new whips, and mending an old one ; 
for the County's service." 

Benjamin Hayes, of Haverford, who had served the Com- 
missioners as Clerk for many years, "■presented a petition de- 
siring to he discharged from his office." John Wharton was 
appointed in his place. 

Tench Francis was allowed £b for his services as Attorney- 
General in Chester County. 

Application was made to the Commissioners for a bridge over 
Chester Creek, "with a draw or sliding bridge for convenience 



256 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1747. 

of sloops, shallops, or other craft, to pass through the same," 
but it was decided to repair the bridge without the draw. It 
was agreed to pay 16s. per hundred for white oak plank, and 
10s. for white oak scantlin, delivered, to be used in this work. 

War having been declared by England against France, the 
Governor issued his proclamation on the 11th of June, ad- 
vising the people of the Province of this change of relations 
between the two countries, and enjoining all persons capable of 
bearing arms, "forthwith to provide themselves with a good 
Firelock, Bayonet and Cartouch box, and with a sufficient 
quantity of powder and ball." The fitting out of privateers 
was also recommended. The tenor of the proclamation was 
rather calculated to increase the alarm incident to approaching 
hostilities; but the Governor had been so successful in his 
management of Indian affairs, and by joining in a grand treaty 
held at Lancaster immediately after the publication of the pro- 
clamation, in which both Virginia and Maryland, and also the 
Six Nations, were represented, the Province was really secure 
from any immediate attack, except by sea. This relieved our 
Quaker population from the dreadful apprehension of Indian 
hostilities, but not from constant importunities to furnish supplies 
to carry on the war, till the capture of Louisburg, on the island 
of Cape Breton, which happened in 1745. Even after this 
period, both men and money were in great demand by the home 
Government for some time. 

An act was passed in 1747, granting X5000 for the King's 
use. This amount was raised by an issue of paper money, but 
this issue did not increase the amount previously authorized, 
but supplied the place of old and defaced bills, no longer fit to 
circulate. 

On the 5th of May, 1747, the Governor advised the As- 
sembly of the death of John Penn, one of the Proprietors, and, 
at the same time, announced to that body his intention of re- 
turning to England, which event soon after followed, leaving 
the Government in charge of the Council, with Anthony Palmer 
as President. Mr. Palmer had not been long at the head of the 
Government, before the Province was thrown into a state of 
alarm by the arrival of an express from New Castle, bringing 
news of the presence of a privateer in the bay, with 100 
French and Spaniards, who had committed sundry depredations 
along the coast. No laws could be passed in the absence of a 
Governor; but the Council was willing to risk the responsibility 
of providing for the defence of the Province, provided they 
could have the assurance- of certain leading members of the 
Assembly, that, upon the arrival of a Governor, a bill for the 
payment of the expenses incurred should have their support. 



1748.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 267 

No satisfactory assurance was given, and no effective defensive 
measures were adopted. The whole responsibility of this non- 
resistance policy, in a time of such great danger, did not rest 
with the Quakers alone, their views on the subject of war being 
endorsed by the Moravians and other German sects. This 
pacific policy doubtless led to the capture of a large number of 
vessels in and about the mouth of the bay, but it may well be 
doubted whether the loss of property sustained would not have 
been more than counterbalanced by the loss of life in case 
armed resistance had been made. 

The repair of the road between Cobb's Creek and Gray's 
Ferry was neglected by the Supervisors, under the belief that 
it had never been regularly laid out, which was probably true. 
Upon the petition of George Gray, the keeper of the Ferry, and 
others, to the Council, all difficulty was obviated by the appoint- 
ment of suitable persons to survey and have a proper return of 
the road made. 

At the same time, upon petition, persons were appointed to 
lay out the balance of the road, according to former surveys, to 
New Castle line, but finding that the- travelled road did not 
occupy the ground upon which the road had been laid out, a 
final report was not made till July, 1748. The survey appears 
to have been made by the Surveyor-General, and varied but 
little from the bed of the old road. The width adopted for the 
road laid out at this time was sixty feet, except in the towns 
Darby and Chester. 

The piratical depredations committed by the enemy in the 
Delaware became more alarming this year than ever before. 
One privateer even ventured above New Castle, and in passing, 
exchanged a few shots with that place. The British sloop-of- 
war Otter was then at Philadelphia, but, unfortunately, it was 
not in a condition to repel these aggressions of the enemy. Ef- 
forts were made to fit out another vessel, and although the As- 
sembly agreed to provide money to defray the expense of such 
defensive measures as might be adopted, even if they did not 
approve of those measures ; yet moneyed men did not feel suffi- 
cient confidence to induce them to make the necessary advances. 
Every effort was made by the Council to procure cannon, and at 
length some were obtained from New York, and batteries estab- 
lished along the river. One of these was called the "Great 
Battery," which was probably located near the present site of 
the Navy Yard. 

In this emergency a home guard was organized, not only in 

the city, but in the several counties, composed of citizens who 

voluntarily associated for the defence of the Province. They 

were denominated " Associators," and furnished their equipments 

17 



258 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1748. 

at their own expense. Chester County furnished a regiment of 
Associators, for which the following gentlemen were commis- 
sioned as officers: Colonel, Andrew McDowell; Lieut.-Colonel, 
John Frew; Major, John Miller, and Captains, Job Ruston, 
William Bell, Joseph Wilson, Henry Glassford, William Boyd, 
William Reed, William Porter and William Clinton.^ 

Fortunately these preparations for defence were not needed. 

Preliminaries for restoring a general peace were signed at Aix 

la Chapelle on the 19th of April, and proclaimed here in August. 

The year 1748 was one of great sickness, not only in the 

city of Philadelphia, but throughout the Province. 

James Hamilton, a son of Andrew Hamilton, received the ap- 
pointment of Lieutenant-Governor, and assumed the duties of the 
office in November. 

In the autumn of this year, Peter Kalm, the Swedish natural- 
ist, arrived at Philadelphia, and after remaining a short time in 
that city, passed through our county on a visit to Wilmington. 
On his return to Philadelphia he spent some time at Chichester, 
"a borough on the Delaware, where travellers pass the river in 
a ferry." He adds, "they build here every year a number of 
small ships for sale, and from an iron work which lies higher up 
in the country, they carry Iron bars to this place and ship 
them." The environs of Chichester, he says, "contain many 
gardens, which are full of apple trees sinking under the weight 
of innumerable apples." About noon our traveller reached 
Chester, " a little Market town which lies on the Delaware. The 
houses stand dispersed. Most of them are built of stone, and 
two or three stories high ; some are, however, made of wood, 
in the town is a church and a market place." 

"About two English miles behind Chester," our author re- 
marks, " I passed an iron forge, which was to the right hand by 
the road side. It belonged to two brothers, as I was told. The 
ore, however, is not dug here, but thirty or forty miles hence, 
where it is first melted in an oven, and then carried to this place. 
The bellows were made of leather, and both they and the ham- 
mers, and even the hearth, but small in proportion to ours. All 
the machines were worked by water." The location of this forge^ 
must have been on Crum Creek, just below where it is crossed 
by the post road, while that mentioned in connection with Chi- 
chester was probably located on Chester Creek, at or near Glen 
Mills, and was owned and carried on by John Taylor. 

Up to this period the forests preserved the same open appear- 
ance and freedom from underwood which they presented at the 

1 For a full list of officers, see Col. Rec. v. 210, 246. 

2 This forge is supposed to be the one before mentioned as belonging to Peter Dicks, 
but Peter Dicks resided in Nether Providence, which leaves the matter in doubt. 



1750.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 259 

time of the first arrival of Europeans. This was originally- 
caused by the annual burnings of the Indians, and now unwisely 
continued by the whites, though the practice was restricted by 
legislative enactment. In describing the country through which 
he passed, our learned traveler (Kalm) remarks that the greater 
part of it is "covered with several kinds of decidious trees; for I 
scarcely saw a single tree of the fir kind, if I except a few red 
cedars. The forest was high but open below, so that it left a free 
prospect to the eye, and no underwood obstructed the passage 
between the trees. It would have been easy in some places to 
have gone under the branches with a carriage for a quarter of a 
mile, the trees standing at great distances from each other, and 
the ground being very level. "^ 

Agreeably to a report made by a committee of the Assembly 
in 1749, the whole amount of paper money in circulation at that 
time in the Province was <£85,000. 

Among the troubles to which our goodly ancestors were, about 
this period, subjected, was the depredation committed by the le- 
gions of squirrels with which the forests swarmed. To mitigate 
the evil, an act was passed authorizing the payment of 3d. per 
head for the destruction of these voracious animals. This pre- 
mium was sufficient to induce a large number of persons to en- 
gage in squirrel shooting as a regular business, and the conse- 
quence was, that the amount paid in the whole Province this 
year for squirrel scalps was X8000, showing that 640,000 of 
these creatures had been killed.^ 

This large amount rendered bankrupt nearly every County 
Treasury in the Province, and made it necessary to reduce the 
bounty one half, by another Act of Assembly. 

In pursuance of an Act of Parliament, having for its object the 
restriction of the manufacture of iron in the British American 
Colonies, Governor Hamilton issued his proclamation,^ requiring 
the Sheriffs of the several counties to make a return to him, of 
" every Mill or Engine for slitting and rolling of Iron, every 
plating forge to work with a tilt hammer, and every Furnace for 
making Steel which were erected within their several and re- 
spective counties," on the 24th day of June, 1750. In pur- 
suance of this proclamation, John Owen, the Sheriff of Chester 
County, certifies " that there is hut one Mill or Engine for slit- 
ting and rolling iron within the county aforesaid, which is situate 
in Thornbury Township, and was erected in the year one thou- 

1 Kalm's Travels into N. America, i. 155-167. 

2 The number of squirels killed in Chester County, in the year 1749, was 159,779, 
as returned to the Commissioner, the pay for which, at id. per head, amounted to the 
sum of £1918 18s. \d. The same year 402 foxes, and 688 crows were killed in the 
county, upon which bounty was claimed. 

3 Col. Rec. V. 459. 



260 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1750. 

sand seven hundred and forty six, by Jolin Taylor the present 
Proprietor thereof, who, with his servants and workmen, has 
ever since until the i^4th day of June last, used and occupied 
the same." The Sheriff also certifies, "that there is not any 
plating forge to work with a tilt hammer, nor any furnace for 
making Steel," within the County of Chester.^ 

As has been mentioned, the iron works of John Taylor occu- 
pied nearly the present site of the Glenn Mills of the Messrs. 
Willcox ; but it is a little remarkable that the iron works within 
two English miles of Chester, mentioned by Peter Kalm, in his 
journey from that place to Philadelphia, should have so suddenly 
gone into disuse. The existence of such works, in 1748, at the 
point mentioned, cannot be doubted, for the Swedish naturalist 
was too accurate an observer to have been mistaken in a matter 
of this kind. 

Labor in Pennsylvania was, at this period, of three kinds : 
free hired labor, bought servants for a term of years, and slaves 
for life. The wages of the first class for a year, with food and 
lodging, in the country, was about £16 for a man, and from £8 
to <£10 for females. The second class consisted of such persons 
as annually came from different countries of Europe to settle. 
Real or supposed oppression brought many of them here, but most 
of them were very poor, and came to better their fortunes. 
Being without means to pay their passage, which was not more 
than from six to eight pounds sterling for each, they, by agree- 
ment with the captain of the ship in which they arrived, were 
sold for a term of years to pay this small amount. 

The usual term of service was four years, and the price ad- 
vanced for that term, appears at this period to have been about 
<£14, which would leave a surplus for the redemptioner, unless 
it was used in the payment of charges by the government. 
Children were frequently sold for a longer period to pay the 
passage-money of their parents. At the expiration of their 
terms of service, each was supplied with a new suit of clothes, 
as is now, and was then, the case with apprentices. Some of 
these foreigners who were possessed of sufficient means to pay 
their passage, preferred being sold, as the period of service 
afforded them time to learn our language and the ways of the 
country, and at the end of that period, the funds they brought 
with them were invested in the purchase of a permanent home. 

This kind of labor being the cheapest, and within the means 
of a majority of the settlers, it appears to have been substituted 
for that of the African slave, and at this period had nearly put 
an end to the importation of slaves into the Province. It was, 
however, more used further in the interior than within the limits 

1 Penna. Archives, ii. 5T. 



1751.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 261 

of our county, the earliest settlers having been more liberally 
supplied with negroes. 

The third kind of labor was that of the negro slave. The 
price of negro men at this time was from ^40 even to <£100 in 
rare instances. The few who were now imported, were brought 
from the West Indies, as it was found that in transporting negroes 
from Africa directly to the more northern Provinces, their health 
suffered more than when gradually acclimated, by being taken 
first to the West Indies, and from thence further north. Even at 
this period the Quakers and others had manumitted a consider- 
able number of their slaves. The law that made it obligatory on 
the master to provide for the maintenance of the slave during 
life, was an obstacle to emancipation, as it was found that manu- 
mitted negroes became indolent, and in their old age were liable 
to become chargeable.^ 

The proportion of negroes to the white population within the 
limits of our county was much greater at this period than at 
present. The precise proportion is not known, but in the city 
of Philadelphia, in 1751, the blacks exceeded one-third of the 
whole population.^ 

In the computation of time throughout Great Britain and its 
dependencies, up to the 31st of December, 1751, what was known 
as "old style," continued to be used. The change to our pre- 
sent mode of computation was eifected by an Act of Parliament, 
entitled, " An Act for regulating the commencement of the year, 
and for correcting the Calendar now in use." The numerical 
designation of the months adopted by the Society of Friends, 
which made March the First Month, was legalized by an Act 
passed by the Provincial Assembly in the ninth year of the reign 
of Queen Anne. 

Action by the Yearly Meeting of London was immediately 
had on the subject, which was adopted by that of Philadelphia; 
and as this action explains the whole subject, including the 
numerical designation of the months used by the Society of 
Friends, it will be given entire, as found in the records of Chester 
Monthly Meeting : 

" Agreed that as by the late Act of Parliament for regulating 
the commencement of the year, that it is ordered that the first 
day of the Eleventh month next, shall be deemed the first day 
of the year 1752, and that the month called January shall be 
successively called the first month of the year, and not the 
month called March as heretofore hath been our method of 
computing. 

1 See Kalm's Travels, i. 387-395, where the subject of labor in Pennsylvania at 
this period is more fully discussed. 

2 The population of Philadelphia was estimated at about 11,000 whites, and 6000 
blacks. Holme's Ann. ii. 187. 



262 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1753. 

" That from and after the time above mentioned, the Eleventh 
month, called January, shall thenceforth be deemed and reckon- 
ed the First month in the year, be so styled in all the records 
and writings of Friends, instead of computing from the month 
called March according to our present practice, and Friends are 
recommended to go on with the names of the following months 
numerically, according to our practice from the beginning, so 
that the months may be called and written as follows : — That 
January be called and written the first month, and February 
called and written the second month, and so on. All other me- 
thods of computing and calling of the months unavoidably leads 
into contradiction. 

" And whereas, for the more regular computation of time, the 
same act directs that in the month now called September, which 
will be in the year 1752, after the second day of the said month, 
eleven numerical days shall be omitted, and that which would 
have been the third day, shall be reckoned and esteemed the 14th 
day of the said month, and that which otherwise would have been 
the fourth day of the said month, must be deemed the 15th, and 
so on. It appears likewise necessary. Friends should conform 
themselves to this direction and omit the nominal days accord- 
ingly." 

From the commencement of this work the author has con- 
formed his dates to the new style so far as to make the year com- 
mence with the first of January, but no allowance has been made 
for the eleven days that are to be omitted under the present 
mode of computation. 

Standing in the Pillory was rarely resorted to as a mode of 
punishment by the Justices of Chester County. At the Febru- 
ary term of this year, one Owen Oberlacker, alias John Brad- 
ley, upon being convicted of "speaking seditious words," was 
sentenced to stand in the Pillory one hour, with the words, 
^^ I stand here for speaking seditious words against the best of 
Kings, wrote in large hand, to be affixed to his back." In ad- 
dition to this punishment, twenty-one lashes upon his bare back 
were to be inflicted the same day. 

It was in 1753 that the French invaded Western Pennsylva- 
nia, in pursuance of their grand scheme to secure the possession 
of the valley of the Mississippi. Though in a time of profound 
peace, the news of this hostile movement filled the country with 
consternation and alarm, for it was well known that a war would 
be inevitable. To our Quaker population, though generally out 
of harm's way, the news of this invasion was especially unwel- 
come. From experience they had learned that there were those 
among their young men who would go out to the battle, and 
should they return, it was rarely to enter that fold from which 
they had strayed. 



1755.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 263 

Still the Society of Friends pursued the even tenor of their 
way, regardless of the storm that was gathering around them. 
Their meetings, their religious missions to distant places, their 
visitation of families, and their formal marriages were continued. 
The Friends of Chester Monthly Meeting even selected this 
period as the time " to build the old end" of the Providence meet- 
ing-house, "with stone, and to make other necessary repairs." 
This "old end," now to be supplied with a stone structure, was 
probably the first erected meeting-house at the place indicated. 

In accordance with notice given to the Proprietaries, in 1758, 
Governor Hamilton resigned his office the following October. He 
was succeeded by Robert Hunter Morris, of New Jersey. 

The events occurring in America in 1754, induced both the 
English and French governments to send troops to aid in the 
defence of their American possessions. Those from England 
were sent by way of Virginia, but did not arrive until the spring 
of 1755. In conjunction with a considerable number of colonial 
troops, they were placed under the unfortunate General Brad- 
dock, and constitsted the expedition defeated by the French and 
Indians near Fort Du Quense. The prudent conduct displayed 
by Washington on this occasion may be regarded as the com- 
mencement of the glorious career of this great man. 

On the morning of the 18th November, 1755, a severe shock 
of an earthquake was felt throughout this region of country.^ It 
lasted about two minutes. It was felt along the coast for a dis- 
tance of 800 miles, being most severe in the vicinity of Boston. 

The disputes between Governor Morris and the Assembly, in 
which the Quakers still had a majority, were constant, and un- 
fortunately were not conducted with that spirit of moderation 
and forbearance that should have prevailed in a period of so 
much difficulty and danger. The Assembly could not vote mo- 
ney specifically for carrying on the war, and in providing means 
'■'■for the king's use" they desired to issue an additional amount 
of paper money. This was opposed by the Governor under Pro- 
prietary instructions. Another difficulty arose in providing for 
the assessment of a heavy land tax. The Assembly included 
the Proprietary lands in the assessment, and the Governor so 
far forgot himself as to accuse that body with having included 
these lands for the purpose of defeating the bill ; especially did 
he censure Dr. Franklin, whom he regarded as the author of this 
measure.^ Notwithstanding the alarming condition of the coun- 
try, there were those who endeavored to stir up sedition. For 

1 Smith's Hist. N. J. 436. 

2 Col. Rec. vi. 600. Dr. Franklin, in speaking of Gov. Morris, says: "His admin- 
istration was a continual battle, in which he labored hard to blacken the Assembly, 
who wiped off his coloring as fast as he laid it on, and placed it in return thick upon 
his own face." 



264 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1756, 

that offence, one John Costello was this year convicted by the 
Court at Chester and sentenced to stand in the pillory one hour, 
on two successive days, wearing the insignia of his crime, as in 
the case of Owen Overlacker. 

No act could be passed by the Assembly to compel persons to 
take up arms in defence of the Province, or to organize the mi- 
litia for that purpose, but the Quakers threw no obstacle in the 
way of those whose scruples did not prevent them from perform- 
ing military duty, and even went so far as to enact a law " for 
the better ordering and regulating such as are willing and desi- 
rous to be united for military purposes within this Province." 
The appropriations for " the king's use" were, indeed, by no 
means niggardly. An act granting ,£60,000 was passed this 
year, and one for ^30,000 in the year following. Such acts 
continued to be passed, from time to time, while the Quakers 
still maintained their ascendancy in the Assembly. 

Of those who joined the military service from this County, I 
have seen no record, except that of those who happened to be- 
long to the Society of Friends; they were dealt with and 
disowned. Of these Radnor Meeting furnished the largest 
number — no less than eight young men in full membership with 
that particular meeting left their homes and went into active 
military service in 1756. 

Previous to this time there appears to have been a difference 
of opinion in the Society of Friends upon the subject of Pre- 
parative Meetings being meetings of Record. The representa- 
tives from Haverford Monthly Meeting to the quarterly meeting 
brought back a proposal, " that Preparative meetings should be 
meetings of Record." After being considered for some time, 
the question was referred to a future meeting, which adopted 
the following as a part of a more extended minute : 

" The proposal of having the Preparative meetings, meetings 
of record, has been under our consideration and is left so ; there 
being some different sentiments thereon; We agreeing, (and 
some are in the practice,) that it would be convenient to keep 
records of the affairs belonging to each particular meeting, such 
as repairing of Meeting houses, &c." 

At the following monthly meeting, which was held at Merion 
on the 14th of May, the representatives who had attended the 
quarterly meeting brought the following minute from that 
meeting, which appears to have settled the question : 

^'After consideration of the reports from the several meetings, 
respecting the principle of establishing preparative meetings, 
this meeting agrees that it will be of advantage to have such 
meetings. And each monthly meeting is therefore desired to 
appoint them where they are not already settled; and it is 



1756.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 265 

agreed they have power to keep a record of such tilings as come 
before them, as they may think necessary." 

The Delaware Indians had been so far seduced by the 
French, as to engage in committing the most barbarous atroci- 
ties against the frontier inhabitants of Pennsylvania. The Six 
Nations still remained friendly, and it was hoped that through 
the instrumentality of this powerful combination of savages, the 
Delawares could be brought to terms of peace. The Quakers 
used every ejBTort to bring about this result, but the Governor 
unwisely made a formal declaration of war against the Dela- 
wares ; and not to be behind the savages themselves in cruelty 
and atrocity, a proclamation was issued offering a premium for 
prisoners or scalps taken from their Indian enemy. 

A reconciliation was, however, soon brought about, through 
the instrumentality of Sir William Johnson, the Six Nations, 
the Quakers, and a few of the Delawares who remained faithful. 

Although England and France had been engaged in hos- 
tilities in their American possessions for about two years, yet 
until May of the present year no formal declaration of war had 
been made between the two Governments. 

As Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, Robert Hunter 
Morris was succeeded by William Denny, towards the close of 
August. 

The British ministry, in discussing some matters connected 
with the defence of the Province, had intimated an opinion 
adverse to Quakers acting as members of Assembly. A number 
of this Society was, nevertheless, elected,^ but four of them 
immediately sent in their resignations. Two of these, Peter 
Dix and Nathaniel Pennock, were from Chester County. This 
appears to have placed those having no conscientious scruples 
on the subject of taking up arms, in a majority in the 
Assembly, but still the want of harmonious action between that 
body and the Governor, was not diminished. The future angry 
disputes between the parties, conclusively demonstrate that 
Quakerism was but a small item in the serious obstacles to 
harmonious legislation. The representatives of the people, 
without distinction of sect or party, knew their rights, and 
determinedly asserted and maintained them against all doubt- 
ful claims of prerogative, either by the Crown, the Proprietaries, 
or the Executive. The doctrines that eventually led to a sepa- 
ration between the Colonies and the Mother Country, had their 
origin in these and similar disputes. 

So captious had the Governor become, that it seemed almost 

1 The Germans are accused of voting for Friends as members, seeking in their 
religious scruples " a protection against taxes and military labors." — Gordon's Hist. 
Penna. 339. 



266 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1757. 

impossible for the Assembly to shape a Militia or Money bill to 
suit the views of his Excellency. At length that body resolved 
that it appeared to them " that the Governor is determined to 
withhold that protection from the people of this province, which 
a proper Militia bill might afford them, unless we will present 
him with such a bill as will enable certain designing men to 
subvert the Constitution and deprive the inhabitants of every 
liberty they think worth enjoying.'' 

In the matter of an application for the removal from office of 
one William Moore, a Justice of the Peace, and Judge of the 
Court of Chester County, questions affecting the respective 
prerogatives of the Assembly and the Governor were discussed 
at great length and with considerable ability.^ 

The following is a list of persons recommended to the 
Governor by the Court for license as tavern keepers for 1757, 
within the townships now composing the County of Delaware : 

Cbester, Aubrey Bevan, Middletown, Joseph Talbot, 

" James Mather, Newtown, John West,' 

" David Cowpland, Concord, John Hannum, 

" John Hanly, Birmingham, Wm. Jones, 
Chester, tp., Wm. Miller, " Henry Hayes, 

Chichester town, Hannah Clayton, Ridley, Mordecai Thompson, 
" Mary Kain, " Edwd. fits Rudolph, 

" John Kerlin, Radnor, Aubrey Harry, 

Chichester tp., James Stroud, " Thomas Tucker, 

Darby town, Hannah Wood, " Richard Barry, 

" William Donaldson, Springfield, Mordecai Taylor. 
" John Rudolph, 
Darby tp., Barbara MoCuUough, 
Haverfiard, Anna Miller. 

The foregoing appears to be a full list of the retailers of 
ardent spirits for the townships now embraced in Delaware 
County, though several of the townships appear to have been 
without a licensed house. 

By the Treaty of Utrecht, the French inhabitants of Nova 
Scotia were to remove with their effects in one year ; but choos- 
ing to become British subjects, (except in the matter of taking 
up arms against their own countrymen,) rather than to part with 
their property, they had determined to remain. Their presence 
being now regarded as dangerous to the people of Nova Scotia, 
the Government determined to disperse them among the other 
Colonies, where their presence would be less objectionable. A 
large body of these Frenchmen (known as French neutrals), 
with their families, were sent to Philadelphia, where for a time 

1 In the excitement produced by this angry discussion, both parties were led into 
the adoption of arbitrary and unjustifiable measures — the Assembly into the im- 
prisonment of Moore for contempt in disregarding the summons and for abuse of a 
former Assembly, and the Governor into a farcical trial and flattering acquittal of 
him, after he had been fairly condemned by the Assembly. See Col. Rec. vol. vii. 



1758.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. * 267 

they were supported, partly at the public expense, and partly by 
private charity. Actuated by compassion for the distressed 
condition of these poor people, the Assembly as soon as possible 
passed an act providing for their distribution throughout the 
counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, and Lancaster. Three 
Commissioners were named in the act for each county, to make 
this distribution, and to transact other business connected with 
the comfort of these poor Frenchmen. The Commissioners for 
Chester County were Nathaniel Pennock, Nathaniel Grubb, and 
John Hannum. 

The overseers of the poor were obliged to receive these poor 
creatures, and to provide for their immediate wants ; but the 
Commissioners were authorized to put them in a way to support 
themselves, by the purchase of stock, &c., which was to be paid 
for out of a public loan recently authorized by the Assembly. 
But one family could be located in a township. 

Notwithstanding this kind treatment, some of these French- 
men, by their misconduct, subjected themselves to the suspicion 
of having evil designs against the Government. Six were ar- 
rested and imprisoned by authority of the Governor, two of 
whom resided in this county, Paul Bujauld at Chester, and Jean 
Landy at Darby. 

For some cause, an enumeration of the members of the Roman 
Catholic Church was made in 1757. The number (who took 
the sacrament) in the Province was 1365, of whom only 120 
resided in Chester County. 

In early times it was usual for religious meetings to commence 
at noon, or sometimes at one o'clock, p. M. The time of com- 
mencing Darby week-day meeting of Friends, was this year 
changed from twelve to eleven o'clock. 

Public attention now became almost wholly engrossed with 
making preparations for the prosecution of the war and the 
defence of the Province. Of these, the limited scope of our 
work will only permit a notice of such as have a local interest. 

In the course of the discussions that ensued, several articles 
appeared in a Dutch newspaper, published at Germantown by 
Christopher Sower, which were supposed to be aimed against the 
King and the Government. In consequence, fourteen High- 
landers, from a regiment lately arrived at Philadelphia, were 
dispatched to the printer, with a written order to meet General 
Forbes " at the tavern sign of the Buck on the old Lancaster 
road."^ Sower repaired to the place indicated, and being sub- 
jected to an examination bj Gen. Forbes and the Governor, who 

1 This tavern was located in the N, E. corner of Haverford township, and up to the 
completion of the railroad to Columbia, continued to be regarded as one of the most 
noted public houses in our county. 



268 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1761. 

was there in person, he was dismissed. Sower had resided in 
the Province thirty-four years, and urged, in his defence, that he 
had been instrumental in inducing many persons to settle in the 
Province, and therefore was in duty bound to support its welfare. 
The General gave him " a serious warning, for the future, not 
to print anything against the King or Government." 

At the time of his interview with the German printer. Gene- 
ral Forbes was probably on his Western expedition, which re- 
sulted in the recapture of Fort Du Quesne. 

The war was still more vigorously prosecuted in 1759, in the 
autumn of which year Quebec was captured by the British and 
provincial forces under General Wolf. In carrying out the plans 
of the campaign, a large number of wagons was required to be 
furnished by the several counties in the Province. The number 
required from Chester County was sixty-six. 

William Denny was superseded in the office of Lieutenant- 
Governor of the Province by James Hamilton, who for a second 
time was appointed to that office, and assumed the duties thereof 
in November, 1759. 

The degree and kind of punishment inflicted upon criminals 
have varied very much at different periods. In very early times 
the infliction of fines for ordinary offences was generally resorted 
to. From 1714 to 1759, most of the sentences embraced whip- 
ping, as the chief or only item of punishment for such offences, 
and usually consisted of "twenty-one lashes on the bare back 
well laid on." In a few instances, the number of stripes was a 
few more or less. Standing in the pillory was rarely adopted 
as a punishment during this period, and imprisonment not at all. 
The wearing of the Roman T ceased about the year 1720. 

The subject of buying and selling negroes, and the treatment 
of those held by members of the Society of Friends, now begins to 
claim the special attention of the meetings of that sect. A member 
of Chester Meeting is dealt with for having bought and sold a 
negro ; but having made the proper acknowledgment is not dis- 
owned. In reply to the query on the subject, Haverford Meeting 
says, that *' one friend hath purchased a negro, and we believe 
those who are possessed of them, supply them with the necessaries 
of life, but we fear the necessary duty of instruction and infor- 
mation in this important affair, is too much neglected by some of 
our members." « 

The death of King George II. occurred on the 25th of Octo- 
ber of this year; but his grandson and successor, George III., 
was not proclaimed in Pennsylvania till the 21st of January of 
the following year. In the new Commission for Justices, that 
it became necessary to issue, the following is the list for Chester 
County : Thomas "Worth, Samuel Flower, John Miller, Isaac 



1762.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 269 

Davis, Edward Brinton ; Chief Burgess of Chester, Alexander 
Johnson, John Morton, John Culbertson, William Clingham, 
William Parker, Timothy Kirk, John Hannum, John Price, 
Roger Hunt, John Fairlamb, George Currie, Henry Hale 
Graham. 

The County tax about this period was levied at the rate of 
2d. per pound, and six shillings on each freeman. The amount 
raised at that rate appears to have exceeded the wants of the 
County, for the Commissioners and Assessors, " upon inspection 
of the affairs of the County that properly came under their 
notice, find no necessity for raising a tax this year." This 
announcement was no doubt a very gratifying one to the tax 
payers of the County. 

Incorporations of meadow companies commenced about this 
period ; under what kind of an arrangement the several parties 
interested in meadow lands along the Delaware, contributed 
their proportionate share of the expense towards maintaining 
the banks, before these acts of incorporation were obtained, is 
not now well understood. It must have been by means of a 
private understanding. 

War with Spain was declared on the 4th of January, 1762. 
This created a greater alarm for the safety of the Province, and 
especially for Philadelphia, than had previously existed, as 
Spain was then in possession of a powerful navy. The Go- 
vernor forthwith convened the Assembly, and the members 
being sensible of the weakness of the Province, the House im- 
mediately appropriated X23,500, which appears to have been 
the Parliamentary allotment for 1759. Five thousand pounds 
were also appropriated for the erection of a fort mounting 
twenty cannon on Mud Island, near the mouth of the Schuyl- 
kill. The fortification, hurriedly erected during this period of 
alarm, and which bore the name of the island upon which it 
was erected, has been supplied by the respectable fortress now 
known as Fort Mifflin, being so named in honor of Governor 
Thomas Mifflin. 

The large number of negroes imported about this time became 
alarming to the people. The Assembly of Pennsylvania had 
enacted a law imposing a prohibitory duty on their introduction, 
which was repealed by the Crown. Other Colonies, including 
Virginia and South Carolina, had enacted laws to restrain the 
importation of slaves, but these enactments failed to receive the 
royal sanction. "Never before had England pursued the traffic 
in Negroes with such eager avarice."^ 

Pitt resigned his position as head of the British ministry, and 
was succeeded by the Earl of Egremont — a most unfortunate 

1 Bancroft, iv. 421. 



270 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1763. 

change for Colonial independence. A treaty of peace between 
England and France was concluded towards the close of this 
year, but was not proclaimed in Philadelphia till the 26th of 
January, 1763. Peace with Spain soon followed, leaving our 
ancestors none but Indian enemies to contend with. 

John Penn arrived at Philadelphia on Sunday the thirteenth 
of October, having been appointed to supersede James Hamilton, 
as Lieut. Governor. The day of his arrival is distinguished 
" by the occurrence of a severe shock of an earthquake, accom- 
panied with a loud roaring noise, which greatly alarmed, not 
only the inhabitants of Philadelphia, but of the surrounding 
country. Most religious congregations were assembled for 
worship at the time, and much confusion, but little injury hap- 
pened from their efforts to escape from the buildings, which 
they feared would fall upon them."^ 

The interior inhabitants of Pennsylvania had suffered so 
severely from the Indians during the war, and their feelings 
against the whole race had become so much excited, that they were 
unable or unwilling to draw any distinction between those who 
had been hostile to the English and those who had acted as 
their allies. The latter were suspected of communicating in- 
telligence to the former. Under this unjust suspicion, a number 
of armed men from Paxton and Donnegal townships in Lan- 
caster County, inhumanly murdered six Indians of Conestogo 
Village, and subsequently fourteen of the same tribe who had 
been placed in the workhouse of Lancaster for safety. Em- 
boldened and hardened by their successful butchery, these ex- 
cited but deluded men, threatened to proceed to JPhiladelphia 
and destroy the Moravian Indians, 140 in number, who, upon 
the news of theLancaster outrages, repaired to that city for 
safety. To render them more secure, the Governor had re- 
moved them to Province Island at the mouth of the Schuylkill. 
Becoming alarmed, however, at the reported fury of their ene- 
mies, they, with their two Moravian ministers, petitioned the 
Legislature to send them to England. This being impracticable, 
the Governor sent them to New York, in order to be placed 
under the protection of Sir Wm. Johnson, who had charge of 
Military affairs in the Colonies ; but Governor Colden of New 
York declined to admit them into that Province, and they re- 
turned back to Pennsylvania under an escort of two military 
companies. The return of these Indians again aroused the fury 
of their enemies, who in great numbers immediately marched 
towards Philadelphia. The Indians, in the meantime, had been 
lodged in the barracks, which were well fortified, and a formi- 
dable array of soldiers went out to meet the insurgents. Find- 

1 Gordon's Hist. Penna. 413. 



1765.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 271 

ing the ferries well guarded they proceeded to Germantown, and 
learning the extent of the preparations made to oppose their 
progress, they at length listened to the advice of some prudent 
persons sent out to meet them, and, with the exception of two 
of their number, who remained to represent their grievances to 
the government, they all returned peaceably to their homes.^ 
Perhaps the older settlements of the Province were never thrown 
into a greater state of alarm than that produced by these in- 
surgents. Dr. Franklin had a large share in bringing about the 
favorable result that has been mentioned. 

John Penn had arrived from England and had assumed the 
duties of Lieutenant-Governor, just before the Indians were 
murdered at Lancaster. When the insurgents approached 
Philadelphia, his Excellency became so much alarmed that he 
fled for safety to the dwelling of Dr. Franklin.^ 

The people of the border settlements had suffered severely 
from the barbarous cruelty of the savages, and can be excused 
for entertaining feelings of revenge, but they can find no justi- 
fication for cruelly venting those feelings against innocent 
parties, simply because they were Indians. It is probable that 
the inhuman mode of warfare practised against the Indians, 
very greatly sharpened their natural cruelty towards the whites. 
Heavy rewards had been offered for Indian scalps, and dogs 
were employed in hunting and pursuing them.^ Truly the 
government was not wholly guiltless of having trained the 
minds of the " Paxton boys" for the cruelty practised by them 
against the Indians. 

Lotteries had for many years been resorted to for the pur- 
pose of raising means to build churches, endow schools, build 
bridges, &c., &c., but the Legislature seeing the evils that re- 
sulted from them, passed an act for their suppression. This 
act was repealed by the Crown ; but the Quakers, at least, were 
not disposed to allow the Mother Country to rivet such evils upon 
their sect. They had ignored the traffic in negroes, and from a 
minute of Concord Meeting we find them this year dealing with 
a member "for being concerned in lotteries." 

But it was in vain that the Quakers warred against the evils 
resulting from lotteries. Other sects, and particularly the Epis- 

1 Gordon's Hist. Penna. 405. 

2 Franklin's Memoirs. 

3 " It will be necessary to give early notice to the Troops that the Governor and 
the Commissioners, have agreed to allow three shillings per month to every soldier 
who brings a strong dog, that will be judged proper to be employed in discovering 
and pursuing the savages, and recommend to procure as many as they can, not ex- 
ceeding ten per company. Each dog is to be kept tied and led by his master." Col, 
Boquet's mem : for equipments of the Penna. troops, &c. See Penna. Archives (1764) 
180. 



272 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1765. 

copalians, appeared not to have become awakened to those evils, 
for in a single year (1765) eight Episcopal churches, one Pres- 
byterian and one Lutheran church, received aid from this au- 
thorized system of gambling. Of the Episcopal churches, th-ree 
were of this County, viz: St. Paul's at Chester, St. Johns in 
Concord township, and St. Martin's at Marcus Hook.^ 

The act of the British Parliament for charging certain stamped 
duties in the American Colonies, known as the ^^ Stamp Act," 
was passed in 1765. In October of this year a vessel bringing 
a supply of stamps arrived at Philadelphia, but the opposition 
to the law was so great that it could not be enforced. The ex- 
citement produced throughout the British Colonies was unpar- 
alleled, and the discussions that resulted, it is known, led to the 
Revolution. 

The Indian troubles ceased with a general treaty of peace en- 
tered into in 1765 with Sir William Johnson ; but it was through 
the instrumentality of Col. Boquet that the Indians were hum- 
bled and brought to terms. 

The new Commission for the county of Chester embraced the 
following names : William Moore, Thomas Worth, Samuel 
Flower, John Miller, Isaac Davis, Edward Brinton, Alexander 
Johnson, Jno. Culbertson, Will. Clingham, Will. Parker, John 
Hannum, John Price, John Fairlamb, Henry Hale Graham, 
Wm. Boyd, Rt. Riley, James Hunter and James Evans. 

The frequent dealings with members about this period by our 
local Friends' meetings, for buying and selling slaves, at once 
show what a very common article of traffic the negro had be- 
come, in this our favored land, and the firm determination on 
the part of that Society, that with their members, at least, the 
traffic should cease and determine for ever. Some were now 
prepared to go a step further than they had already gone, and 
to enjoin the manumission of all slaves as a religious duty. In 
this movement, Chester Monthly Meeting took the lead, as it 
had done in the earlier movements of the Society on this delicate 
subject. That meeting had already appointed a committee to 
visit such of its members " as keep slaves, and endeavour to 
convince them of the inconsistency of the practice, and advise 
them of the proper time and manner of setting them at liberty." 
This committee, after having visited all who kept slaves, made 
their report this year. They found " a disposition in many they 
visited to release their slaves, and one has been set at liberty 
since their appointment. They believe that if Friends can be 
continued to advise and treat with those that do not see clearly 

1 Gordon's Hist. Penna. 411. St. John's Church. Records. 



1767.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 273 

the necessity of doing to others as they would have others do 
unto them, it may be profitable."^ 

All the meetings had committees to inquire into the treat- 
ment of slaves held by Friends : whether they were taught to 
reg.d, and encouraged to attend meetings, &c. Reports were 
generally favorable. 

The odious Stamp Act was repealed on the 18th of March, 
1766, the news of which event, when it reached America, caused 
unbounded demonstrations of joy. Though the Quakers gene- 
rally would not have violently resisted the execution of the law, 
they shared with others the joy produced by the tidings of its 
repeal. The French and Indian wars had been happily termi- 
nated, and the controversy with the mother country appeared 
now to be the only event that could again give rise to the "wars 
and fightings," which had already become a snare to many 
youthful members of the Society. Regarding the repeal as the 
harbinger of a protracted peace, our local meetings with renewed 
vigor set about purging the Society from a variety of evil prac- 
tices, which for some time had claimed its serious consideration. 
Next to dealing in and holding slaves, intemperance and the 
sale of intoxicating drinks, and being concerned in lotteries, 
were the most prominent. 

The most important event of 1767 was the final determination 
of the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland — 
Mason and Dixon's line. The final deed, under which this very 
protracted controversy was eventually closed, was executed on 
the 4th of July, 1760.^ Under this deed Commissioners were 
appointed, who at once engaged in the work assigned to them, 
by tracing, with the aid of the best surveyors they could find, 
the east and west peninsular line, and the twelve-mile circle 
around New Castle. The work was accomplished by means of 
sighting along poles, and measuring with the common surveyor's 
chain, as nearly horizontal as possible. 

The slow progress of these surveyors induced the Penns and 
the then Lord Baltimore to agree with Thomas Mason and Jere- 
miah Dixon, "two Mathematicians or surveyors," to complete 
the work. These gentlemen arrived in Philadelphia on the 15th 
of November, 1763, and immediately commenced the survey. 
The peninsular line had been run, and the tangent-point had 
been fixed by their predecessors with so much accuracy that they 

1 Notwithstanding this apparent desire to do even and exact justice to the African 
race, there was a law at this time in force in Pennsylvania that established a special 
tribunal for the trial of negroes charged with the higher grades of crime, which 
proves conclusively that the rights of the two races were not generally regarded as 
equally sacred. The record of a single trial under this law at Chester, given in the 
Appendix, Note L, will explain the whole matter. 

2 Address of J. H. Latrohe, 26. 

18 



274 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. . [1769. 

were adopted by Mason and Dixon — the tangent-line, to use 
their own language, "not passing one inch eastward or west- 
ward" of the post marking the tangent point set in the ground 
by those whom they superseded.^ It will be remembered that 
the starting-point of the line run in 1739 was on the meridian 
of this tangent fifteen and a-quarter miles south of the southern 
part of the City of Philadelphia. The agreement now fixes it 
at fifteen miles. Having ascertained this point, the learned 
surveyors proceeded slowly but surely in running and marking 
the line that bears their names. In the autumn of 1767 their 
labors were suddenly brought to a close, by the command of the 
Six Nations of Indians, after they had reached a distance of 
244 miles west of the Delaware. 

The stones intended to permanently designate the boundary 
were not planted till the following year. 

The year 1768 was another year of jubilee for our good 
people, for the Commissioners and Assessors, " after inspecting 
into the afiairs of the county, find no necessity for raising a tax 
this year." This announcement may be regarded as more sin- 
gular, in having been made at a time when great apprehension 
existed of the breaking out of an Indian war, in consequence of 
the most inhuman murder of ten Indians at Middle Creek, in 
Cumberland County, by one Frederic Stump. 

An act was passed in 1768 "for regulating the fishery in the 
river Brandywine." The object of the act was to regulate the 
dams so that the fish could pass up. 

The practice of advertising, by candidates, for the office of 
sheriff, which commenced in Philadelphia in 1744, was probably 
introduced about this period into Chester County. The follow- 
ing is a specimen of the advertisement then in use. 

" To the Freeholder Sy and others, Electors for the Borough and 
County of Chester, 

Gentlemen : 

When I reflect on the honor done, and 
confidence placed in me by the freemen of this county, for a 
number of years past, it afibrds me a matter of joy, and em- 
boldens me at this time, to offer myself as a candidate for the 
Sheriff's office, for which purpose I humbly request your votes 
and interest at the ensuing election, which kindness. Gentlemen, 
shall be gratefully acknowledged and kept in remembrance by 
your assured friend. Richard Baker." 

Sheriff's were elected annually, and for some years past John 
Morton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence had held 
that office. Jesse Maris was the successful candidate this year, 

1 Address of J. H. Latrobe, 33. 



1770.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 275 

though he did not advertise. He gave security in ^£3,000, un- 
der a recently enacted law, the security previously to this time 
having been much smaller. 

After the repeal of the stamp act, the British Parliament 
passed, almost unanimously, an act imposing duties on certain 
articles imported into the colonies. This act involving the same 
principle as that just repealed — taxation without representation 
— met with the same opposition. Under a belief that it was 
the amount of the tax, rather than the principle involved in im- 
posing it, to which the colonists objected, assurances were given 
in 1769, that five-sixths of the taxes should be repealed. In the 
following year the whole was abolished, except 3d. per pound 
on tea.^ 

This produced only a temporary lull in the great political 
storm that for some time had been gathering; for the right of 
taxation by the mother country was still maintained. 

The road from the Schuylkill at Province Island, through Tini- 
cum, was probably laid out this year; persons, u^jon petition, 
having been appointed for that purpose by the Governor and 
Council, though their report does not appear on record. 

A road from the "Middle ferry" to Strasburg, passing the 
Boot tavern, and the Ship tavern, was laid out in 1770. The 
route adopted for this road through Delaware County, was nearly 
on the same ground that is occupied at present by the West 
Chester road. The Commissioners for laying out this road 
were John Morton, John Sellers, James Webb, Joseph Fox, 
Jacob Lewis and Danl. Williams. 

The Commission of the Governor having been renewed, a new 
Commission for Justices was required. The following is the list 
for Chester County, viz. : William Moore, Thomas Worth, John 
Morton, Isaac Davis, Alexander Johnson, William Clingham, 
William Parker, John Hannum, John Price, Henry Hale Graham, 
Richard Riley, Charles Cruikshanks, Richard Baker, James 
Gibbons, James Moore, William Swaffer, Evan Evans, Thomas 
Hockley, Joseph Pyle, Thomas Temple, and Warwick Miller. 
Members of Council were ex-officio Justices of the Peace. 

As early as 1734 some small quantities of silk had been made 
in Pennsylvania, probably from our native mulberry. About 
this period the subject was revived, and great efforts were made 
to introduce the culture on a large scale. Premiums were offer- 
ed to the persons who should bring the greatest weight of 
cocoons to a public filature established in Philadelphia. In 
1771 the quantity brought to this establishment from Pennsyl- 
vania, New Jersey and Delaware, chiefly by ladies, was 1754 lbs. 4 

1 Gordon's Hist. Penn. 467. 



276 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



[1772. 



LBS. 


oz. 




LBS. 


oz. 


4 


11 


Sarah Dicks . 


47 


10 


10 





Catharine Evans 


14 


00 


51 


11 


Mary Jones 


19 


12 


3 


3 


Jane Davis (Chester) . 


28 


12 


6 





Jacob Worrall 


2 





25 


12 


Margaret Riley 


11 


10 


13 


12 


John Hoops (Chester) 


23 


10 


52 


00 


Henry Thomas (Chester) 


8 


6 


2 


15 






— 


7 







335 





2 


4 









oz., of which Chester County produced 335 lbs., brought in by 
the following named persons : 

Grace Beal 
Mary Parker (Darby) 
Mary Pearson (Darby) 
Abigail Davis (Chester) 
Sarah Fordham (Darby) 
Ann Cochran (Darby) 
Rachel Hayes (Darby) 
James Millhouse 
Ann Davis 
Elizabeth Bonsall 
Mary Davis 

It is probable that the white mulberry tree, (Morus alba,) was 
introduced into this county at this time. It is now fully natu- 
ralized, especially in the eastern part of the county, where there 
are trees three feet in diameter. 

On account of the death of his father, which happened in 
1771, Lieut. Governor John Penn returned to England, and 
before the close of the year was succeeded by Richard Penn ; 
James Hamilton, President of the Council, having acted as Go- 
vernor in the meantime. 

The best men in the county did not, at this period, hesitate to 
assume the duties of county offices. Thus we find Anthony 
Wayne, who subsequently became one of the great generals of 
the Revolution, and John Morton, one of the signers of the De- 
claration of Independence, the former as an assessor, and the 
latter as a Justice of the Peace, uniting with the County Commis- 
sioners in letting out, by contract, the building of a county 
bridge. It was the bridge over Little Crum Creek, on the road 
between Darby and Chester. The bridge was let at £210; is a 
stone arched bridge, and is still standing, an enduring monument 
of the integrity of those concerned in its erection. 

At a subsequent meeting " the consideration of the rebuilding 
the Flat for carrying persons over the Brandywine coming be- 
fore the board, they agree that it should be done, with all con- 
venient speed, and appoint John Webster & Thomas Taylor to 
procure the same as soon as they can at the most reasonable 
terms." This flat was used at Chadds' Ford. 

The excitement of the people produced by the illegal and tur- 
bulent proceedings of the Connecticut claimants, was, at this 
period, even greater than that produced by the arbitrary mea- 
sures of the mother country. This controversy, though sus- 
pended during the Revolution, was not ended till 1802, when it 
was rightfully decided in favor of Pennsylvania. 

The several Monthly Meetings of the Society of Friends, of 



1774.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 277 

our county, appear now to be engaged more earnestly in freeing 
their members "from the evil practice of holding slaves." 
Through the instrumentality of visiting committees, a consider- 
able number of Friends had been induced to liberate their ser- 
vants for life, or to enter into an obligation to free them at a 
certain age ; though slave-holding at this time was not a suffi- 
cient cause for disownment. Nor was it held by all the Meetings 
that even selling slaves placed the offender quite beyond the care 
of the Society, for, in a case brought before Darby Meeting, and 
clearly made out, the offender was regarded as being " under 
censure of the minute of our Yearly Meeting of 1758," and in 
the testimony adopted, they " refuse to permit him to sit in our 
meetings of discipline, or be employed in the affairs of Truth, or 
receive from him any contribution towards the relief of the poor 
or other services of the Meeting." 

Great opposition was made to the road laid out in 1770 from 
the Middle Ferry to Strasburg in Lancaster County, partly on 
account of supposed mistakes in making the return. As a con- 
sequence it was not opened, and this year, in pursuance of in- 
structions from the Governor and Council, it was reviewed by 
the Commissioners who laid it out, but they do not appear to 
have made any material change in the route, though it is desig- 
nated much more particularly in the second survey.^ 

John Penn, who had formerly acted as Governor, and who, in 
consequence of the death of his father, had become one of the 
Proprietaries, returned to the Province in 1773, and assumed 
the duties of administering the government. 

From a message by the Governor to the Assembly, it would 
appear that .£15,000 had been appropriated for building forti- 
fications "for the security and defence" of Philadelphia, and 
that the whole amount had been expended in the purchase of 
Mud Island, and in the erection of a fort thereon ; the work 
having been executed in accordance with " the opinion and ad- 
vice of a skillful engineer, recommended by General Gage." 
The Governor regarded the work as having been done "in a 
masterly manner." The object of the message was to urge the 
Assembly to make provision for finishing the work. A tem- 
porary fortress had been erected on this island at a former period, 
but the structure now erected was the beginning of, and consti- 
tutes a material part of the present Fort Mifflin. 

We now approach the most momentous period of our history 
as a people — a period embracing the events that severed us from 
the mother country, and gave us a separate national existence. 
The limited scope of this work will only permit a notice of such 

1 Col. Rec. X. 113. 



278 HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. [1774. 

of these events as occurred in our . midst, or in our immediate 
vicinity. 

By the passage of the Boston Port Bill, the people became 
aroused to the necessity of adopting active measures in defence 
of their liberties. Meetings were held in Philadelphia, from 
which emanated a circular to the people of the several counties 
of the Province. This circular was addressed to Francis 
Richardson, Elisha Price, and Henry Hayes, of Chester County, 
who immediately issued the following call for a meeting of the 
people of the county : 

" To the Freeholders and others, inhabitants of the County 
of Chester, qualified by law to vote for Representatives in 
General Assembly, 
" Gentlemen : 

" The large, and very respectable com- 
mittee for the City and County of Philadelphia, have wrote to 
us, the subscribers, requesting that a committee might be chosen 
for this county as soon as possible, to meet the committee from 
the other Counties of this province, at the city of Philadelphia, 
on the 15th day of this instant, to deliberate on matters of the 
greatest weight and importance, not only to us, but to all Ame- 
rica. And we are now assured, that on the account of the 
Indian disturbances, his Honour the Governor has found it 
necessary to call the Assembly to meet, in their legislative 
capacity, on Monday the 28th of this instant ; and we also find, 
that it is not only the opinion and request of the said committee 
for Philadelphia, but also the opinion and desire of a number of 
respectable persons of this county, coinciding with our own 
opinions, as lovers of civil and religious liberty, that the com- 
mittees of the several counties of this province, should meet at 
Philadelphia, on the said 15th of this instant, in order to assist 
in framing instructions, and preparing such matters as may be 
proper to recommend to our representatives, at their meeting the 
Monday following. 

" We have therefore thought proper on mature deliberation, 
and by the advice of a number of gentlemen of this county, to 
appoint Wednesday the 13th instant, at one o'clock in the after- 
noon, as a proper time for the inhabitants of .this county to meet 
at the Court House in Chester, to choose a number of our best 
and wisest men as a committee for this county, as shall be judged 
necessary to meet the other committees, at the time and place 
above mentioned, for the purpose aforesaid, and for such other 
purposes, as may then be deemed useful and necessary. And 
we sincerely hope, that the good people of this county, will give 
their attendance on that day, and calmly and heartily join with 



1774.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 279 

[us] in doing the business proposed, which we earnestly wish and 
desire may answer the good proposed, and the good purposes 
intended by it. 

Chester July 4th 1774." 

The following is the record of the proceedings of the 
meeting : 

" At a meeting of a very respectable number of the Freeholders 
and others, inhabitants of the County of Chester at the court- 
house on Wednesday the 13th of July, 1774, in consequence of 
public notice for that purpose given, Francis Richardson Esq. 
Chairman. 

" This Assembly, taking into their serious consideration, the 
present critical and alarming situation of American aifairs, and 
the unhappy differences now subsisting between Great Britain 
and her Colonies, do agree and resolve as follow, viz : 

"1. That the inhabitants of this county do owe, and will pay 
all due faith and allegiance to our lawful and rightful sovereign 
Lord George the Third, king of G. Britain, and the dominions 
thereunto belonging. 

" 2. That it is an absolute right, inherent in every English 
subject, to have free use, enjoyment and disposal of all his 
property, either by himself or representative, and that no other 
power on earth can legally divest him of it. 

" 3. That the act of Parliament lately passed for shutting up 
the port of Boston is unconstitutional, oppressive to the in- 
habitants of that town, in its consequences dangerous to the 
liberties of the British colonies ; and that therefore, we consider 
our brethren at Boston as suffering in the common cause of 
America. 

" 4. That the protection of the liberties of America is an in- 
dispensable duty, which we owe to ourselves, who enjoy them, 
to our ancestors who transmitted them down, and to our pos- 
terity who will claim them at our hands, as the best birthright 
and noblest inheritance of mankind. 

" 5. We do agree with the Committee of the City and County 
of Philadelphia, that a Congress of Deputies from the said 
Colonies is the most profitable and proper mode of procuring 
relief for our suffering brethren, obtaining redress, preserving 
our rights and liberties, and establishing peace and mutual con- 
fidence between our Mother country and her Colonies, on a 
constitutional foundation. 

" 6. The inhabitants of this County ought and will cheerfully 
adopt, adhere to, and assist in executing all and singular such 
peaceable and constitutional measures, which may hereafter be 
agreed upon and determined by the said general Congress." 



280 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1774. 

"7. It is our opinion that it would conduce greatly to the 
restoration of the liberties of America, should the Colonies 
enter into a solemn agreement not to purchase any goods, 
wares or merchandize imported from Great Britain, under 
such restrictions as be agreed upon by the Congress. We, for 
our parts, sensible of the great advantages which must arise 
from promoting economy and manufacturing among ourselves, 
are determined to use as little foreign manufactures of what 
kind or quality soever, as our necessities will permit until the 
several acts of the British Parliament, injurious to American 
liberty, be repealed. 

" 8. That as our brethren at Boston are now suffering in 
the cause of America, it is the duty of the inhabitants of this 
County, in common with the neighbouring Colonies, generously 
to contribute towards their support ; and therefore the Committee 
hereafter appointed, are requested immediately to open and set 
on foot a subscription for the said sufferers, and the money 
arising therefrom to be laid out and expended as the said 
Committee, or a majority of them, shall judge best to answer 
the benevolent intention. 

" 9. That the following persons, to wit, Francis Richardson, 
Elisha Price, John Hart, Anthony Wayne, John Sellers, Hugh 
Lloyd, William Montgomery, Francis Johnston, William Parker,- 
Richard Riley, Thomas Hockley, Robert Mendenhall, and John 
Fleming or a majority of them, be and they are hereby ap- 
pointed a Committee for this County to meet and correspond 
with the Committees of the several Counties of this and the 
other Colonies, and to join in such measures as to them shall 
appear necessary for the public good.^ 

"Francis Johnston, Clk. Com." 

There had been some correspondence between the Philadel- 
phia Committee and influential persons in the several Counties 
of the Province, a month earlier, at which time it was not ex- 
pected that the Governor would convene the Assembly. Dele- 
gates from the several County Committees convened at Phila- 
delphia, and engaged in the preparation of a series of general 
resolutions, to be laid before that body, which met shortly 
afterwards. The Assembly, acting in harmony with similar 
bodies in the other Colonies, appointed deputies to the general 
Congress that convened at Philadelphia on the 14th of Sep- 
tember following. The whole number of deputies was fifty-five, 
of whom eight were from Pennsylvania, and of these, two, 
viz., Charles Humphreys and John Morton, resided in the dis- 
trict now constituting Delaware County. 

1 Haz. Reg. iii. 38. 



1774.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 281 

On the 20th day of December following, we again find, " a 
very respectable number of the inhabitants of the County of 
Chester, convened at the Court-house in the borough of Chester," 
for the purpose of choosing a Committee " to carry into execu- 
tion the Association of the late Continental Congress." The 
following persons were chosen, viz. : Anthony Wayne, Francis 
Johnston, Richard Riley, Evan Evans & James Moore, Es- 
quires, Hugh Lloyd, Thomas Hockley, David Coupland, John 
Hart, Sketchley Morton, Samuel Fairlamb, Isaac Eyre, John 
Crosby, Nicholas Diehl, Jesse Bonsall, Aaron Oakford, Benja- 
min Brannan, John Talbot, Joseph Brown, Samuel Price, 
John Crawford, John Taylor, Lewis Gronow, Edward Hum- 
phreys, Henry Lawrence, Richard Thomas, Wm. Mont- 
gomery, Persifer Frazer, Thos. Taylor, John Foulke, Robert 
Mendenhall, Joseph Pennell, George Pierce, Nicholas Fair- 
lamb, Samuel Trimble, Charles Dilworth, John Hannum, George 
Hoops, Joel Bailey, John Gilliland, Joseph Bishop, Jr., John 
Kerlin, Edward Jones, William Lewis, Patrick Anderson, 
Joshua Evans, Thomas Hartman, Dr. Branson Van Leer, 
William Evans, Joseph Cowan, Thomas Haslep, Patterson Bell, 
Dr. Jonathan Morris, Andrew Mitchell, Thomas Bufiington, 
James Bennett, Joseph Musgrave, Wm. Miller, Richard Flower, 
Walter Finney, James Simpson, David Wherry, James Evans, 
Thomas Bishop, William Edwards, Jona. Vernon, Jr., Lewis 
Davis, Sr., Jos. Gibbons, Jr., and Thomas Evans; which Com- 
mittee were " to be and continue from this time until one month 
after the rising of the next Continental Congress, with full 
power to transact such business, and enter into such associa- 
tions as to them shall appear expedient." 

After the appointment of the above Committee, they proceeded 
to appoint a Chairman and Secretary ; when Anthony Wayne, 
Esq., was selected for the former, and Francis Johnston, Esq., 
for the latter office. The Committee then passed the following 
resolves unanimously: "1st. That any twelve or more of the 
said Committee, meeting upon due notice, be empowered to enter 
upon and transact all such business, as shall come under their 
consideration; provided, the majority agreeing shall not be less 
than twelve." 

" 2d. That the present unhappy situation of public afiairs in 
general, and of this Province in particular, renders it highly 
necessary that a Provincial Convention should be held as soon as 
possible ; for which purpose twelve persons shall be appointed, 
out of the said Committee, as delegates to attend the said Con- 
vention, at such time and place as shall be generally agreed on." 

The Committee then adjourned, to meet at the house of David 
Coupland, in the Borough of Chester, on the 9th of January, 
1775. 



282 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1775. 

Agreeably to one of the resolves of the first meeting of the 
people of Chester County, subscriptions were circulated for the 
relief of the suffering people of Boston. The Society of Friends, 
acting in a meeting capacity, did not hesitate to contribute to 
the same object. Chester Monthly Meeting contributed X70 "for 
the relief of Necessitous inhabitants of Massachussetts Bay and 
Provinces adjacent." Darby Meeting paid X33 14s. "for the 
relief of the poor and distressed in New England," while Haver- 
ford Meeting responded to the request of the meeting for suffer- 
ings, " that Friends should contribute liberally for the relief 
of friends or others (in the New England Government), who are 
or may be reduced to indigent circumstances, in this time of 
public calamity," and in a short time had the satisfaction to 
receive " an affecting account of the state of the poor of these 
Provinces, and of the distribution of the donations sent from 
hence." 

In this connection it may be remarked, that the period under 
consideration was one of great tribulation with the more staid 
members of the Society of Friends. Their tenets imposed a 
condition of perfect neutrality, and this was generally adhered 
to; but many, and among them men in high repute for their 
intelligence, took an active part in opposing the arbitrary mea- 
sures of the mother country. The effect of allowing their mem- 
bers to participate in the commotions of the times was foreseen, 
and the most kindly caution was repeatedly administered by the 
visitation of Committees. It will be seen hereafter that these 
efforts were generally, though not wholly, unsuccessful. 

The proposed Provincial Convention assembled at Philadelphia 
on the 23d of January, 1775, and continued its sessions until 
the 28th. The following ten delegates from Chester County 
appeared at the first meeting of the Convention: Anthony 
Wayne, Esq., Hugh Lloyd, Richard Thomas, Francis Johnston, 
Esq., Samuel Fairlamb, Lewis Davis, William Montgomery, 
Joseph Musgrave, Joshua Evans, and Persifer Frazer. The ab- 
sentees were Thomas Hockley and Thomas Taylor. 

The proceedings of the Convention were unanimous, and the 
object of one of its first resolves was "to procure a law prohibit- 
ing the future importation of slaves into the province." 

No record of a meeting of the Chester County Committee, on 
the 9th of January, the day to which they adjourned, has been 
found ; but they are again assembled on the 20th of March, pur- 
suant "to adjournment and public notice," showing that an inter- 
vening meeting had been held. This meeting was held at the 
house of Richard Cheyney in East Cain, when, on motion, it was 
" ordered, that Mr. Hockley, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Gronow, Mr. 
Lloyd, Mr. Frazer, Mr. Moore, and Mr. Taylor, be and they are 



1775.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 283 

hereby appointed a Committee to essay a draught of a petition 
to present to the General Assembly of this Province, with regard 
to the manumission of slaves — especially relating to the freedom 
of infants hereafter born of black women within this Colony — and 
do make report of the same to this Committee at its next 
meeting." 

On motion, " ordered, that each member in this Committee, 
will use his utmost diligence in collecting the several sums of 
money subscribed for the use of Boston, and pay the same into 
the hands of Anthony Wayne, Esq., Treasurer, at the next meet- 
ing of the Committee." 

The Committee then adjourned, to meet at the house of David 
Cowpland, in the borough of Chester, on Wednesday, the 31st 
of May next. 

The following extract from their proceedings shows that the 
Committee met at an earlier day than that to which they ad- 
journed. 

" In Committee, Chester, May 22, 1775. 

" Whereas it appears very necessary, in order to avert the evils 
and calamities which threaten our devoted country, to embody 
ourselves and make all the military preparation in our power; 
and it appears absolutely impossible to carry this laudable design 
into execution, without observing the greatest order, harmony 
and concord, not only under the laws of civil government, but 
also while under arms and in actual duty, — we therefore unani- 
mously recommend the following Association, to be entered into 
by the good people of this County: — 

" We, the Subscribers do most solemnly resolve, promise and 
engage, under the sacred ties of honor, virtue, and love to our 
country, that we will use our utmost endeavours to learn the 
military exercise and promote harmony and unanimity in our 
respective companies ; that we will strictly adhere to the rules of 
decency, during duty; that we will pay a due regard to our 
oflficers ; that we will, when called upon, support with our utmost 
abilities the civil magistrate in the execution of the laws for the 
good of our country, and that we will at all times be in readiness 
to defend the lives, liberties, and properties of ourselves and 
fellow countrymen against all attempts to deprive us of them. 
" Extract from the minutes. 

" By order of the Committee, 

I " Francis Johnston, Sec'y." 

The following is the next call for a meeting of the Commit- 
tee : — 



284 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1775. 

" Chester County, September 7, 1775. 
" The Committee of Chester County are desired to meet at 
the sign of the Turk's Head, in the township of Goshen,^ on 
Monday, the 25th inst., at Ten O'clock, A. M., on business of 
consequence ; at which time and place the board of commission- 
ers and assessors are requested to attend. 

"By order of the Committee, 

" Anthony Wayne, Chairman." 

" In Committee, Chester County, Sept. 25, 1775. 
" Whereas some persons, evidently inimical to the liberty of 
America, have industriously propagated a report, that the mili- 
tary associators of this County, in conjunction with the military 
associators in general, intend to overturn the Constitution, by 
declaring an Independency, in the execution of which they are 
aided by this Committee and the board of Commissioners and 
Assessors with the arms now making for this County ; and as 
such report could not originate but among the worst of men for the 
worsi of purposes, — This Committee have therefore thought proper 
to declare, and they do hereby declare, their abhorrence even of an 
idea so pernicious in its nature ; as they ardently wish for nothing 
more than a happy and speedy reconciliation, on constitutional 
principles, with that state from whom they derive their origin. 
" By order of the Committee, 

" Anthony Wayne, Chairman." 

The strong language of this disclaimer against any intention 
of favoring independence, and the desire expressed for a recon- 
ciliation with the mother country, sounds strange at this day, 
yet there can be no doubt that, up to this late period, it was the 
prevailing sentiment, even among those who were most strenu- 
ous in their opposition to the measures of the home govern- 
ment. 

After having provided for the election of a new Committee for 
the ensuing year by the people of the several townships, on the 
2d of October, the Committee adjourned to meet at Chester on 
that day, but we have no record of the proceedings of that meet- 
ing. Whether the complexion of the Committee was changed 
by the election is not known, but we judge it was not, from the 
proceedings of the next meeting. 

" Chester, Oct. 23rd, 1775. 
" Pursuant to public notice given, the Committee met at the 
house of David Cowpland, in the borough of Chester. On mo- 
tion ordered, that each member of this Committee do immedi- 
ately make return to the Chairman, of the quantity of Powder 

1 Now West Chester. 



1775.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 285 

which he ah'eady has or may collect within his district, together 
with the price and the name of the owner thereof, that the same 
may be paid for. 

" On motion resolved, that Anthony Wayne, Francis Johnston, 
and Elisha Price, Esqrs., Mr. Richardson, Mr. Knowles, Mr. 
Lloyd, and Mr. Brannan, be and they are hereby appointed a 
Committee of Correspondence for this County.^ 
" By order of the Committee, 

"Francis Johnston, Sec'y." 

The second meeting of Congress was in May, 1775. At the 
close of the first meeting of that body, it was hoped and believed 
by many that a second meeting would not be necessary ; that 
the representations made to the home government by the repre- 
sentatives of all the Colonies, would bring the desired relief. 
But this was a delusion, for before Congress met, hostilities had 
actually begun. From this time onward, for seven long years, 
war measures and the events of the war engrossed public atten- 
tion. Only those of a local character will be noticed. 

A Committee of Safety was appointed by the Assembly on the 
30th June, consisting of twenty-five members, of whom Anthony 
Wayne, Benjamin Bartholomew, Francis Johnston and Richard 
Riley were from Chester County. This Committee was espe- 
cially active in providing for the defence of the Province, and 
particularly for that of the city of Philadelphia. 

Each county was required to furnish a certain number of 
Firelocks — the quota for Chester County being 600. These 
were manufactured by a man named Dunwicke, and were ready 
to be proved by the 6th of October.^ Gun-boats were construct- 
ed ; ammunition provided ; companies, battalions and regiments 
were organized, and breastworks hastily thrown up. These de- 
fences were mostly in the neighborhood of Fort Mifiiin. In ad- 
dition, two tiers of chevaux-de-frize were thrown across the main 
channel of the Delaware ; one opposite the upper part of Hog 
Island, near the Fort, and the other nearly opposite the Laza- 
retto.^ The following resolution, adopted by the Committee on 
the 16th of November, directs additional tiers to be sunk, but it 
does not appear that any barrier to the navigation of the river 
was placed so far down as Marcus Hook. 

" Resolved, that one or more tiers of Chevaux-de-frize be sunk 
above those already sunk, near to Fort Island." 

" That two tiers of Chevaux de-frize be sunk for the further 



1 The foregoing minutes of the proceedings of the Chester County Committee were 
copied from the Pennsylvania Packet, (a newspaper published in Philadelphia at the 
time) by Dr. William Darlington, of West Chester, and kindly furnished by him. 

2 Col. Rec. X. 356. ' lb. 334. 



286 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1775. 

security of this Province in the channel opposite or near to Mar- 
cus Hook."^ 

In an official report on the condition of the Province, made by 
the Governor to the Earl of Dartmouth, the population is esti- 
mated at 302,000, of whom 2000 were negroes. The colored 
population was greatly under-estimated, or the report was only 
intended to include free blacks. The value of the several 
offices, in sterling money, in the Province, is also set down in 
the report. Those held by persons residing in Chester County 
are given as follows : 

John Morton, Esq., Assistant Justice of the Supreme 

Court, XlOO 

Henry Hale Graham, Prothonotary, Register, Recorder, 

&c., 120 

Nathaniel Vernon, Sheriff, ...... 100 

John Bryan, Coroner, ....... 20 

Towards the close of the year, there was a reorganization of 
the Committee of Safety made by the Assembly. All the names 
from Chester County contained in the first appointment are in- 
cluded in this, with the addition of that of Nicholas Fairlamb ; 
the whole number of members being increased to thirty-two. 

The county assessment of that part of Chester County now 
constituting the County of Delaware, for the year 1775, makes 
the number of taxables in that district 1622, and by estimating 
five inhabitants to each taxable, our population, at this interesting 
period of our history, amounted to 8110. The taxables of the 
several townships were as follows : " Aston, 71 ; Bethel, 30 
Chester, 168 ; Upper Chichester, 57 ; Lower Chichester, 85 
Concord, 104 ; Upper Darby, 100 ; Darby, 90 ; Edgmont, 67 
Haverford, 71; Marple, 75; Middletown, 88; Newtown, 77 
Nether Providence, 48 ; Upper Providence, 58 ; Ridley (inclu- 
ding Tinicum), 149 ; Radnor, 98 ; Springfield, 60 ; Thornbury, 
61 ; and Birmingham, 69.^ 

The rate of the assessment was two pence in the pound, and 
six shillings on single freemen ; and the tax for the whole 
county only amounted to X310 13s. 9d., distributed among the 
townships as follows : Aston, £14 16s. 9d. ; Bethel, <£8 ISs. Sd. ; 
Chester, ,£26 Is. Sd. ; Upper Chichester, £8 19s. Qd. ; Lower 
Chichester, £10 14s. lie?. ; Concord, £23 2s. Id. ; Upper Darby, 
£27 4s. M. ; Lower Darby, £14 lis. 3d. ; Edgmont, £13 12s. 
Qd.; Haverford, £11 Is. Sd.; Marple, £14 Qs. Id.; Middle- 
town, £20 13s. 6d. ; Newtown, £14 14s. ; Nether Providence, 

1 Col. Reo. X. 404. 

2 An allowance has been made for the parts of Birmingham and Thornbury now 
included in Chester County. 



1776.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 287 

£S lf)s. ; Upper Providence, £S 12s. 9d. ; Ridlej (including 
Tinicum), X34 10s. ; Radnor, .£17 13s. 6c?. ; Springfield, ^£13 
15s. Sd. ; Tliornburj, .£12 Qs. ; Birmingham, £6 9s. 2d. 

At a meeting of the Chester County Committee, held on the 
26th of December, (1775,) regulations were enacted to secure a 
perfect organization of the Associators, agreeably to a vote of 
the Assembly. At the same meeting it was also '•^Resolved., that 
Anthony Wayne, James Moore, Francis Johnston Esq, D'' Sam- 
uel Kenedy, Caleb Davis, William Montgomery, Persifor Frazer, 
and Richard Thomas, Gentlemen, or any five or more of them, 
be appointed, and they are hereby appointed, to represent this 
county, (if occasion be,) in Provincial Convention for the ensuing 
year."^ 

The Committee of Safety held its sessions almost daily in 
Philadelphia.. Their duties were arduous in the extreme. It is 
indeed difficult to comprehend how a body of men could control 
and direct such an amount of business, in all its details, as was 
brought under their notice. Some idea may be gained, in respect 
to their doings, by a detail of such of their transactions as relate 
more particularly to this county or its vicinity. 

Four battalions of Continental troops were ordered by Con- 
gress to be raised in Pennsylvania. At the request of that body, 
the Committee recommended proper persons for officers. An- 
thony Wayne received the unanimous recommendation of the 
Committee for the office of Colonel. On the 17th of January, 
the Committee resolved, " that Col. Wayne, Col. Johnson, M"" 
Bartholomew & M"" Reiley, be a committee to examine the Fire- 
locks, Cartridge boxes. Knapsacks &c. as ordered by the Assem- 
bly to be provided by Chester County * * *." 

The two tiers of chevaux-de-frize that had already been laid 
were not regarded as sufficient. Others were constructed at 
Gloucester, and on the 13th of March it was resolved by the 
Committee, " that John Cobourn be employed to take the Che- 
vaux-de-Frize, when launched at Gloucester, and sink them in 
their proper places near Fort Island, and that he be authorized 
to procure anything for the purpose, hire persons under him, on 
the best and cheapest terms, and that he draw on this board for 
the expense." 

Saltpetre for the manufacture of gunpowder was the great 
desideratum of the times, and great apprehensions were enter- 
tained in regard to the possibility of obtaining a sufficient 
supply for a successful defence of the Province. The following 
advertisement shows the extraordinary means adopted to insure 
a supply of this necessary article : 

1 Pennsylvania Packet. 



288 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1776. 

" To the Inhabitants of the County of Chester. 
" Pursuant to the recommendation of the Committee of Safety 
for the Province of Pennsylvania, to the Committee for Inspec- 
tion for the County of Chester, Benjamin Brannan, Walter 
Finney, and John Beaton were appointed to attend the saltpetre 
manufactory in the 'City of Philadelphia, in order to perfect 
themselves in said art : We having complied therewith do hereby 
give notice to all those whose public virtue and patriotic spirit 
would excite them to such a valuable and necessary undertaking 
at this crisis of time ; that attendance will be given at the house 
of Beojamin Brannan in Darby,^ on the 23rd and 24th of Feb- 
ruary ; at the house of Mr. Cochran in East Fallowfield on the 
27th and 28th ; at the house of Mrs. Whitby [Withy] in the 
borough of Chester, on the 1st and second of March ; at the 
house of Mr, Hood in Oxford, on the 4th and 5th ; at the house 
of Mr. Miller in Birmingham on the 6th and 7th ; at the house 
of Mr. Powell in Newtown on the 8th and 9th ; at the house of 
Mr. Bell in Kennet on the 12th and 13th, and at the house of 
Walter Finney in New London on the 14th and 15th of said 
month, in order to teach and instruct all persons who may please 
to apply at the times and places above mentioned. 

"Benjamin Brannan, 
Walter Finney." 

" N.B. The times and places in the North West district are 
not yet appointed."^ 

The "North West district" was visited by Mr. John Beaton 
the other member of the Committee of Inspection, who made his 
appointments at six different places, and spent two days at each 
place, in giving instruction in the art of making saltpetre. 

About the 4th of March the Chester County Committee peti- 
tioned the Assembly for a change in the articles of the Military 
Associations. The principal change asked for was, that the 
Associators be furnished with Arms. The petition is signed by 
Anthony Wayne as chairman of the Committee. 

On the 29th of March, upon application of Col. Wayne, an 
order was drawn by the Committee of Safety in favor of the 
Chester County Committee for <£500, for purchasing Arms on 
account of Congress. 

Under the apprehension of an attack being made by water, 
every precaution was used to guard against it. Neither pilots 
nor pilot-boats were allowed to pass the chevaux-de-frize, and 
the persons specially appointed to conduct vessels through the 
opening in that obstruction, were not permitted to go below 
Chester. 

^ Now Upper Darby. 2 Pennsylvania Packet. 



1776.] 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



289 



Provincial troops were rapidly recruited and organized along 
the river — so rapidly that, upon a representation made by Col. 
Miles, " that there is not a sufficient number of houses in or 
about the towns of Chester & Marcus Hook, to quarter the 
troops now raising for the defence of this Province," the Com- 
mittee of Safety on the 13th of April Resolved, "that Col. 
Miles do procure for the use of the said troops, 100 gbod tents, 
on the most reasonable terms in his power." 

On the 17th of April, upon the application of Caleb Davis, 
an order for X1500 was drawn by the Committee of Safety in 
favor of the Commissioners and Assessors of Chester County, 
"for the payment oi firelocks, &c., made in that County for the 
use of the Province." 

An application was made to the Committee of Safety by the 
Chester County Committee, for 850 lbs. of powder, in addition 
to the 400 lbs. on hand, and lead enough for the whole, and 
also for 1500 flints, to be distributed among the Associators, 
"in order to supply them with 23 rounds per man." This 
supply was to be sent to the care of Nicholas Fairlamb.'^ 

The Committee had judged rightly of the danger to be appre- 
hended from armed vessels coming up the Delaware. " In con- 
sequence of intelligence received on the 29th of April, that the 
Roebuck Man-of-war is aground upon Brandywine [shoals], 
Capt. Reed was ordered with the provincial Ship Montgomery, 
to proceed down the river and Bay, and join the Commodore 
who is already on his way, with the armed Boats, in order to 
take or destroy her * * * " 

The Provincials had quite a fleet of armed boats and other 
craft on the river at this time. A list with the number of men 
on each, made up to the first of May, is as follows : 



The Washington 

" Franklin, 

" Congress, 

" Effingham, 

" Burke, 

" Camden, 

" Chatham, 

" Experiment, 



50 men, 

38 " 
37 " 
22 " 
24 " 

39 " 
24 " 
31 " 

265 



The Bull-dog, 
" Ranger, 
" Warren, 
" Dickenson, 
" Hancock, 
Floating Battery, 
Ship Montgomery, 



39 men, 

37 " 

22 " 

35 " 

48 " 

116 " 

117 " 

414 
265 



679 

The Roebuck was a vessel of 44 guns. She succeeded in 
getting from her perilous situation without being captured. 
There was also another British war vessel in the Bay — the 
Liverpool of 28 guns — which likewise escaped, but the presence 



19 



1 Penna. Archives, iv. 730. 



290 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1776. 

of the Provincial fleet prevented them from ascending higher up 
the river than the neighborhood of Wilmington. Here on the 
8th of May both vessels were attacked by the Provincial fleet 
under the command of Capt. Reed. Col. Miles, with 100 rifle- 
men, had repaired to that vicinity, with the view of rendering 
any assistance in his power, and witnessed the engagement. At 
4 o'clock on that day, he writes from the river bank near Wil- 
mington, to the Committee of Safety : " Our boats and the two 
men of war have been engaged for two hours at long shot. I 
believe there is no damage done on either side, tho' I suppose 
three or four hundred shot have passed between them. * * * 
Our boats fire much better than the other vessels, but in my 
opinion engage at too great a distance."^ * * * 

There was disappointment expressed at the failure of the 
Gondolas or armed boats, to capture or destroy the Roebuck ; 
and those in charge of the expedition, to screen themselves from 
censure, attributed their want of success to a deficiency of 
supplies, particularly of ammunition ; thus casting the blame on 
the Committee of Safety. This body very promptly asked the 
Assembly, " to promote such an inquiry as shall satisfy the 
public where the blame & misconduct is justly chargeable." 
Perhaps an item in the instructions sent by the Committee to 
Capt. Reed — " to he careful in exposing any of the Boats to capture 
or destruction" — had as much to do in causing the failure of 
the expedition as the want of supplies. 

From the following orders, adopted by the Committee on the 
7th of May, it may be inferred, that a considerable land force 
was at this time stationed at Chester : 

" Robert Towers was directed to deliver to Colo. Samuel 
Miles, for the use of the Provincial troops under his command 
1000 pounds of gunpowder and 2000 pounds of Lead, or as 
great a part thereof as is in store." At the same time 20,000 
cartridges for muskets, "for the use of the Associators of 
Chester County," were directed to be conveyed there " agree- 
ably to Col. Miles direction." And on the next day, the Com- 
missary was directed, "to send down to Chester, for the use of 
the Provincial troops under Col. Miles, Sixty Firelocks." 
These guns were sent under the protection of a guard. 

After procuring a supply of saltpetre, the next great necessity 
of the country was to have it manufactured into powder. There 
was no powder-mill in the Province before the Revolution broke 
out. An ofiicial report made on the 3d of June, shows that the 
first powder-mill put in operation was that of Doctor Robert 
Harris, "on Crum Creek, about three miles from Chester." It 
began to work about the 23d of May. The dimensions of the 

1 Penna. Archives, iv. 748. 



1776.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 291 

mill house were 30 by 20 feet, with a head and fall of 8J feet. 
The drying house was 20 by 15 feet, " neither floored nor 
plastered." The Doctor had received one ton of saltpetre and 
500 lbs. of sulphur. He expected to deliver one ton of powder 
on the first of June, " and the same quantity weekly." 

Another mill, of much greater dimensions, was at this time 
about being erected, at the public expense, on French Creek, 
" about four miles above Moore Hall." It was expected to be 
ready to work on the 25th of June. On a branch of French 
Creek still another small mill was in the course of erection, and 
also one on Swamp Creek, in Bucks County.^ 

Lead was also in great requisition — so much so, that all the 
leaden clock weights, draught weights, &c., were required to be 
given up for military purposes. Six pence per pound was allowed 
for the lead thus taken. 

On the 21st of May the Committee of Safety adopted a me- 
morial to Congress, asking for aid in the completion of the de- 
fences of the Delaware. They speak of the large sums appropri- 
ated for that object by the Provincial Assembly under the direc- 
tion of the Committee — that they caused "thirteen Arm'd Boats 
or Gondolas to be built, equip'd and manned, and have since built 
fitted and Manned, a large Ship, Floating Battery, several Guard 
Boats, and a great number of fire Bafts ; erected fortifications on 
deep water Island ; raised a large artillery Company for their de- 
fence, and sunk Chevaux-de-frize in the channel of the river ; 
That the Assembly have raised two Battalions of Biflemen and 
one of Musquetry, stationed on the banks of the river Delaware. 

" That the Committee perceive, after all these exertions, 
greatly surpassing, as they believe, any that have been made on 
this Continent, at an expense merely Collonial, that their defence 
is still imperfect, and far unequal in their idea, to the probable 
force, that may soon be employed against this colony. 

They ask Congress to make an appropriation for the erection 
of an additional Floating Battery, and also for a fortification to 
be erected at Billingsport, on the Jersey shore. Congress made 
an appropriation for this latter work, but it was executed under 
the supervision of the Committee of Safety ; a boom erected 
there was also a Continental charge. The works on Fort Island 
were also strengthened about this time, as a requisition was made 
on Col. Miles for a working force of one hundred men for that 
purpose. To these were allowed, over and above their pay " a 
quart of 18s. Beer each working day." 

On the 17th of June, Col. Atlee, who had been stationed at 
Chester, was directed by the Committee to order his whole Bat- 
talion to be quartered in the Barracks of the city. This order 

1 Penna. Archives, iv. T65. 



292 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1776. 

would indicate less apprehension of an immediate attack by way 
of the river ; but the Committee still continued to increase its 
defences, in order to be prepared for such an attack. The two 
tiers of chevaux-de-frize already sunk, having been built in 
great haste, were probably of defective construction. Be that 
as it may, we now find two additional tiers in the course of con- 
struction — one to be sunk opposite Billingsport, and the other in 
a range with the piers of the Fort.^ 

The proximity of Hog Island to the Fort made it necessary to 
guard against the enemy landing upon it in case of an attack 
upon the Fort. This was to be effected by overflowing the island 
with water. To be prepared for such a contingency, on the 19th 
of June " Mr. Abraham Kinsey, Tenant at Hog Island, was 
informed by the Committee of the necessity of laying that island 
under water on the near approach of the Enemy, and at the 
same time was assured, that whatever injury he should sustain in 
consequence, would be hereafter made good to him by the Pub- 
lick." 

It now became known that New York, and not Philadelphia, 
was to be attacked, and in consequence, on the 2d of July, Col. 
Miles was requested to march his Battalions immediately to Phi- 
ladelphia.^ Letters were, at the same time, dispatched by the 
Committee, "to the Colonels of the different Battalions of the 
Counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester & Lancaster, request- 
ing they would hold themselves in readiness to march at an hours 
warning, with their battalions to the city." 

The representatives from Pennsylvania, in Congress, on the 
4th of July, when the vote was taken on the Declaration of In- 
dependence, were John Morton, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Franklin, Charles Humphreys, Edward Biddle, Thomas 
Willing, Andrew Allen and James Wilson. Of these gentlemen 
Messrs. Morton and Humphreys resided within what is now 
Delaware County. At the time the vote was taken Morris and 
Dickinson were absent. Of those present from Pennsylvania, 
Franklin, Wilson and Morton voted for the Declaration, and 
Biddle, Allen, Willing and Humphreys against it. 

The Convention^ to form a State Constitution for Pennsylva- 

1 Col. Rec. X. 606 and 648. 

2 Col. Saml. Miles was in commandof two battalions, numbering 971,oflScers and men. 
Col. Atlee commanded one battalion of 444, ofEcers and men, and probably Captain 
Thomas Proctor's company of artillery, numbering 117, officers and men. Penna. Ar- 
chives, iv. 780. 

3 This Convention had its origin in an assembly called "the Provincial Conference," 
which was convened in pursuance of a resolution of Congress recommending a change in 
the form of State governments. It met at Philadelphia on the 18th of June. The mem- 
bers from Chester County were, Colonel Richard Thomas, Major William Evans, Colo- 
nel Thomas HocKley, Major Caleb Davis, Elisha Price, Esq., Mr. Samuel Fairlamb, 
Colonel William Montgomery, Colonel Hugh Lloyd, Richard Riley, Esq., Colonel Evan 
Evans, Colonel Lewis Greno, Major Sketchley Morton and Captain Thomas Levis. 



1776.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 293 

nia met at Philadelpliia on the 15th of July, and at once as- 
sumed the whole political power of the State ; almost their first 
act being the appointment of Delegates to Congress. For this 
important trust, John Morton, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Mor- 
ris, James Wilson, George Ross, James Smith, Benjamin Rush, 
George Clymer and George Taylor were selected. So it appears 
that only the four first named were members of Congress at the 
adoption of the Declaration, though all signed that instrument 
when engrossed on the 2d of August following. 

The names of the members of the Convention from Chester 
County were, Benjamin Bartholomew, John Jacobs, Thomas 
Strawbridge, Robert Smith, Samuel Cunningham, John Hart, 
John Mackey and John Fleming. 

The military organizations in Pennsylvania, known as Associa- 
tors, were constituted into fifty-three battalions. These assem- 
bled by representatives in convention at Lancaster on the 4th of 
July — the day Independence was declared — "to choose two Bri- 
gadier Generals to command the Battalions and forces of Penn- 
sylvania." Daniel Robertdeau and James Ewing were elected. 

The delegates to this Convention from Chester County were: 
Major Culbe'rtson, Colonel Montgomery, Lieut. -Col. Gibson; 
Captains Wallace, Scot, Gardiner; Privates Cunningham, 
Boyd, Denny, Culbertson, and Fulton.^ 

On the 22d of July the duties of the Committee of Safety 
were closed, the Convention, then in session, having appointed 
another body of men, with the title of the Council of Safety, 
upon whom devolved nearly the same duties that had been 
exercised by the Committee. 

Most of the small vessels employed in guarding the Dela- 
ware were stationed at the Fort, but it appears that certain 
guard boats were moored in Darby Creek ; and from the incon- 
venience of obtaining provision from the Fort, on the 26th of 
July it was ordered by the Council of Safety, " that Mr. 
Sketchley Morton^ do supply the said boats with provisions 
until further orders." Mr. Morton's bill for supplies furnished, 
amounted to X8 Is. d>\d. 

The troops that had been stationed at Marcus Hook and 
Chester, and recently ordered to Philadelphia, did not remain 
long in that city. The following letter at once shows the 
destination of those troops, the condition in which a portion of 
them had been left before their removal to the city, and the 
humanity of their commanding officer : 

1 Hist. Lancaster Co., 405. 

^ Sketchley Morton was a son of John Morton, the signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence. 



294 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1776. 

" Philadelphia, July 10th, 1776. 
"D' Sir: 

"At the time I left Marcus Hook, there was a number of 
men inoculated for the Small Pox, w''^ were left under the care 
of Docf Davis, but being ordered to the Jerseys, it became abso- 
lutely necessary that the Doct'' should go with the troops — those 
sick men still remain at the Hook, under the notice of Docf 
Chapman — but I should be much obliged to you, (as I know no 
other person upon whom I can so well depend,) if you would be 
kind enough to see that those men are served with every 
necessary provision, while they remain there, for which you will 
be satisfied. I hope you will not refuse this trouble, otherwise 
the poor men will possibly suffer. 
"I am. Sir 

w''' much Esteem 

your H,ble Servt. 

Saml. Miles." 

Col. Miles, with his regiment, crossed New Jersey, was at 
the unfortunate battle of Long Island, and taken prisoner. It 
would be interesting to follow him in the forlorn effort to defend 
New York, but that is forbidden by the limited scope of this 
work. 

The following extracts from a letter dated at Kingsbridge, 
on the 22d of September, addressed by Capt. Patrick Anderson, 
to Dr. Franklin, sufficiently attests the shattered condition of 
Colonel Atlee's battalion of musketry, after the battle of Long 
Island : 

"Immediately after our defeat on Long Island, the command 
of the Musquetry Battallion devolved upon me. I found the 
number of men remaining fit for duty to be about 200, but 
most of their baggage & some even of their arms and accou- 
trements Lost, and having no field officers left, applyed to 
Lt. Col. Broadhead for his advice and assistance ; soon after 
he informed me the General ordered him to annex our Bat- 
talion to the Rifle Reg*, which I at that time complyed with 
in expectation of further instructions from the Convention 
or Council of Safety, as Col. Broadhead wrote you concerning 
it. Want of necessaries sowered the men's minds. Deficiencys 
in their stipulated rations hath increased it, & neglect of 
punctual pay*, of their pay hath caused their meeting and 
Desert in great numbers, with arms, &c. So that there is 
now only scarce Eighty three remaining & they still think 
if they are taken prisoners, they will not be exchanged, while 
any prisoners from the Continental army is in the enemy's 



1776.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 295 

hands."^ On the 1st of August there had been 397 men in 
this battalion under pay. 

General Washington was obliged to retreat across New 
Jersey, and was closely followed by the British army. The 
Roebuck was again in the Bay. Every effort was now made 
for the defence of Philadelphia, the situation of which had be- 
come imminently perilous. Troops were mustered into ser- 
vice, defences were erected, munitions of war were provided, 
and army supplies were collected from every available quarter. 
Chester County contributed her full share towards providing 
for this emergency. 

From a few of the minutes and resolves of the Council 
of Safety, relating more particularly to Chester County, a 
good idea may be formed of all the defensive and other mea- 
sures adopted at this time. 

On the 4th of October, it was resolved " that Mr. William 
Evans be desired to purchase all the coarse cloths, blankets, 
and stockings in Chester County." 

November 11th, " Intelligence was received by express that 
several hundred transports had sailed from New York, & 
steered their course to the southward & expected to be intended 
for this city; whereupon the council wrote a circular letter to 
the commanding officers of the Battalions of Militia, earnestly 
requesting them to march their respective Battalions to this 
city immediately." 

" Ordered, That the owners of cattle and other stock near the 
river side, make the necessary preparations for removing the 
same, at least five miles from the river, on the shortest notice, 
as it is Probable that this board may be under the disagreeable 
necessity of giving the most preremtory orders for their re- 
moval, and to see that the same be punctually and suddenly 
complied with." 

November, 23rd, ^''Resolved, That the salt now in the posses- 
sion of the Council of Safety, be immediately sent to the 
Committee of the several Counties in the following proportions, 
to wit: *****" 

The share of Chester County was eighty bushels. 

" The Committees are to sell it to the people at the rate of 
15s. pr. Bushel, and in no greater quantity than half a bushell 
to any one family; they are to make as equal distribution as 
they can, according to the necessities of the people, for which 
purpose they are to require a declaration of what quantity they 
are possessed of more than their just proportion of this necessary 
article, at a time of such very great scarcity of it." 

Dec. 4th. "An order was drawn on Mr. Nesbit in favour of 

^ Penna. Archives, v. 27. 



296 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [177T. 

Dr. Robert Harris, for X58, for making powder for Congress^ 
to be charged to his Acco't." 

" Mr. Towers was directed to deliver Dr. Robert Harris one 
ton of Salt Petre, & Sulphur in proportion, to make into Gun 
powder." 

"Mr. Nesbitt to pay Jno. Morton ,£3 — 6 — 0, for wharfage of 
the Floating Battery Arnold^ in March last." 

'■'■Resolved, That Thomas Marie be employed to fix the Boom 
to the Piers at Fort Island, and to be stationed there to have 
the care of it, to receive orders, and to be subject to the com- 
manding officer at that station, and he is to employ a sufficient 
number of hands, and do this business without any delay." 

Dr. Thomas Bond proposed " instituting Hospitals for the 
sick in Darby, Chester, Marcus Hook, Wilmington & Newcastle." 
"I think," he says, " the water carriage from Trenton to those 
places would save much carting, and this plan much better than 
one proposed of sending the sick to East To- ^ [Easton] Beth- 
lehem, Nazareth, Reading, &c." 

The successful attack made by General Washington, on the 
night of the 25th December, on a body of Hessians encamped at 
Trenton, and the capture of a large number of them, with a great 
number of guns and military stores, at once turned the tide of 
events, at this period, in favor of the American cause, and re- 
lieved our people from any immediate apprehension of the pre- 
sence of the enemy. 

As nearly as can be ascertained, up to the close of the year 
1776, the several meetings of the Society of Friends within what 
now constitutes Delaware County, had disowned eighty-one 
members for being concerned in military affairs. But three or 
four were reclaimed who had taken up arms. The minutes of 
the meetings during this period show an increased activity in 
visiting such members as continued to hold slaves, and generally 
with good success. Many slaves were emancipated by members 
of the Society about this time. A more lively testimony was 
borne by the meetings than heretofore against the use of alco- 
holic drinks. Early in the following year, " friends are advised 
and desired to avoid being concerned in the distillation of grain, 
or selling grain to such as distil, or purchasing the produce 
thereof." 

The year 1777 was the most eventful period of the revolution- 
ary war. To the people of this County it was a period of the 
direst calamity. Circumstances placed the seat of war in our 
midst, and the events of the year being adverse to the American 
cause, our people, almost without discrimination or exception, 
were subjected to the ravages and plunder of the successful inva- 
ders of our soil. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 297 

Though relieved from the apprehension of an immediate at- 
tack on Philadelphia, the Council of Safety did not slacken their 
efforts in providing for the defence of that city. Early in January 
an order was issued to County Committees of the nine counties 
nearest the city, to furnish 38,000 bushels of horse-feed for the 
army. The apportionment of Chester County was 4000 bushels. 

The suspicion that Gen. Howe intended to attack Philadelphia 
by water, was confirmed by the arrest of one James Molesworth,^ 
who had been sent on from New York to secure pilots to conduct 
the British fleet up the Delaware. Subsequent movements of 
Howe rendered it difficult to decide whether he would carry out 
this intention, and made it necessary to embrace a wider scope 
in providing for the defence of the city. 

On the 25th of April, at the request of Congress, a call was 
made for 3000 militia, one-half of whom were to be encamped at 
or near Chester. Each soldier was to be provided with a blanket, 
but if blankets c jiot be purchased, " they must be impressed.'' 
At this time the number of men returned in Chester County ca- 
pable of bearing arms, was 5000. 

It was required of the Committees of the Counties of Phila- 
delphia, Chester and Bucks, " to take an inventory of all the 
flour, wheat. Rye & Indian Corn, Oats, Beef, Pork, Horses, 
Neat Cattle, Sheep, Hogs, &c., also wagons, carts, &c. in said 
Counties." The ostensible object of this inventory was to have 
the articles removed in case of any sudden alarm ; but it is pro- 
bable that a desire to know what amount of provisions and means 
of transportation could be made available for our army, was at 
the bottom of this enumeration. 

The defences on the Delaware were submitted to the inspec- 
tion of a French engineer named De Coudray. In his report he 
utterly condemns the works at Billingsport and Fort Mifflin as 
almost useless. Of the fort at Red Bank he says, " This fort is 
better conceived, directed and executed than either of those 
above mentioned. It does the more honor to Col. Bull, [who 
superintended its erection] as he had no other assistance than 
natural good sense, unenlightened by theory." He, however, 
also condemns this fort for the object for which it was construct- 
ed, and recommends a radical change in the plan and construc- 
tion of that at Billingsport. The fort at Red Bank, Fort Mifflin, 
and all the gun-boats, floating batteries, fire-ships, and chevaux- 
de-frize, were constructed wholly at the expense of Pennsylvania ; 
the fort at Billingsport alone having been erected at the charge 
of the United Colonies. A considerable amount of money was ex- 
pended in remodeling this latter fort, but it appears never to 
have answered any valuable purpose. 

1 Moleswortli was executed on the 31st March, 1777. — Penna. Packet. 



298 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

Upon the application of General Schuyler, of the Continental 
army, an order was issued by the Board of War^ for the collec- 
tion of 4000 blankets in Pennsylvania for the use of the Conti- 
nental troops. These blankets were to be collected from the 
inhabitants " in such quantities as is proportionate to the num- 
ber they have in the family, and the stock of blankets they may 
be possessed of ; for which blankets they shall be paid the full 
value, according to an appraisement to be made of them." The 
proportion to be furnished by Chester County was five hun- 
dred.^ 

Early in June, General Howe, commander of the British 
forces at New York, showed a disposition to advance by land 
across New Jersey, and to take possession of Philadelphia. On 
the 14th of that month he actually made an advance by two 
columns, which led General Washington to believe that this was 
his real intention. This information being communicated to 
Congress the same day, that body ordered, " That the 2nd Class 
of the Militia of the County of Philadelphia, Chester, Bucks, 
Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Berks, & Northampton, be ordered 
to march to the places to which the first class of the said counties 
respectively are ordered, and that the third class be got in 
readiness to march, and also that the 1st and second classes of 
the City Militia, be ordered to march to Bristol, & the 3rd 
Class hold themselves in readiness to march at the shortest 
notice." This order was promptly responded to by the Supreme 
Executive Council of the State, who issued a circular letter to 
the Lieutenants^ of the counties named, " to forward the first 
Class of Militia immediately, and to hold the second class in 
readiness to march at the shortest notice." Forty wagons were 
also ordered to.be sent from Chester County, thirty from Phila- 
delphia, and thirty from Berks. 

But it so turned out that the marching of Howe was intended 
to draw General Washington from the strong position he then 
occupied, and in that event to give him battle, which he declined 
to do as our troops were then posted. Washington wisely re- 
fused to risk his army in an open field fight, and Howe would 
not venture to cross the Delaware, leaving so large a force as 
that commanded by Washington in his rear, so that Philadelphia 
was again relieved from being attacked by the way of New 
Jersey. The policy of the British general was understood in 

^ The Board of War consisted of nine persons, and was constituted by the Supreme 
Executive Council, March 13, 1777. Col. Rec. xi. 181. 

2 Penna. Packet. 

' There was a Lieutenant appointed for each county, who, with a number of Sub- 
Lieutenants, appear to have had the general management of military matters in 
their respective counties. Colonel Robert Smith was the Lieutenant of Chester 
County. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 299 

the course of a few days, and, as a consequence, on the 25th of 
June the order for the marching of our local militia was sus- 
pended. 

Besides the regular army and militia, there were at this time, 
independent companies of volunteers. On the 11th of June, 
Benjamin Brannen, Esq., one of the Sub-Lieutenants of Chester 
County, informed the Council, " that there were several com- 
panies of Artillery Men formed in that county, and requested 
that they may be furnished with a piece of Artillery proper for 
exercising the men, and also a few pounds of powder for prac- 
ticing the Firings with." A proper piece, and twelve pounds 
of powder were ordered to be furnished. 

The militia appear to have been divided into eight classes. 
When a class was called out, many belonging to it could not, or 
would not go. The deficiency was made up by the employment 
of substitutes, either taken from the other classes, or from those 
not subject, by law, to the performance of military duty. These 
substitutes were procured by means of a bounty, which was paid 
by the State, to be remunerated by the fines imposed on de- 
linquents, and varied from £15 to <£50, for two months' service. 
In some regiments the number of substitutes nearly equaled the 
number of those regularly drafted. The system of employing 
substitutes, at high rates, was much complained of by the officers 
of the regular army, who regarded it as a serious obstruction 
to recruiting by enlistments. 

It having become apparent that General Howe had definitely 
changed his plan for gaining possession of Philadelphia, the 
marching orders for all the militia, except those of Philadel- 
phia and Chester County, were countermanded. News of the 
embarkation of a large British force, at New York, very reason- 
ably suggested the idea that the attack on the Capital of Penn- 
sylvania would be by way of the river Delaware ; and doubtless 
that was the plan of General Howe when he sailed. Every 
efibrt was accordingly made for the defence of the river. The 
modification of the works at Billingsport, recommended by De 
Coudray, was ordered by Congress to be carried out, under the 
direction of the authorities of Pennsylvania. Much labor was 
expended at this point, while Fort Mifflin, (but recently known 
by that name,) and the earth work at Red Bank were strength- 
ened and improved. Some other points were fortified. One of 
these was near the mouth of Darby Creek, — doubtless on the 
Island of Tinicum. 

Agreeably to some general suggestions made by the com- 
mander-in-chief, a survey of the grounds bordering the river, to 
the distance of four miles from its banks, was ordered by the 
Council. The surveyors were instructed to note particularly 



300 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

the great roads, even beyond four miles ; " the several places 
where an enemy may land, and the kind of ground adjoining, 
whether marshy, hilly, open, or covered with woods, and where 
there are several heights near each other, remarking their alti- 
tudes alid distances apart;" the streams of water, "as high up 
as the tide flows, and the places where they may be forded or 
passed by bridges — where there are swamps near the river, or 
roads — their kinds and sizes." Passes of difficulty to an army, 
were to be accurately surveyed and well described. The sur- 
veyors were directed to enter upon their duties immediately, and 
with as much secrecy and dispatch as the case would admit, and 
all persons were requested to be aiding and assisting them in 
the service. 

The duty of making the survey from the Schuylkill to Chris- 
tina Creek was assigned to Nathan Sellers.^ 

On the 27th of July, certain information was received by the 
Council of the approach of the British fleet towards the Delaware 
Bay. This news produced the highest degree of excitement 
among the people, and induced the authorities of the State to 
redouble their exertions to ward off" the threatened blow. 

A draft of the militia of Philadelphia County had marched 
before harvest into New Jersey; one from Bucks had guarded 
the fords of the Delaware for two months ; a second class from 
Bucks, two from the City, and one from Chester, had occupied 
for some time and assisted in finishing the defences of the Dela- 
ware between the city and Chester. On the 28th of July, Con- 
gress made a requisition on the Executive Council of Pennsyl- 
vania for 4000 militia in addition to those already in service ; 
in response to which, the Council, on the same day, ordered one 
class to be immediately called into service from the city, and 
one class from each of the counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, 
Chester, Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Berks, and North- 
ampton; also a detachment of artillery from the City of Phila- 
delphia, equal to three -eighths of the whole. Most of these 
troops were directed "to march immediately for Chester." 

The persons appointed to drive off" the cattle from the borders 
of the Delaware,^ on the approach of the enemy, were reminded 
of the importance of their trust, and of the necessity of holding 
themselves in readiness for the performance of it when the ex- 
pected emergency should happen. Caleb Davis, who had been 
recently appointed Prothonotary, &c., for Chester County, was 
directed to remove the County Records from the town of Chester 

1 Penna. Archives, v, 441. 

2 The persons wpon whom devolved the duty of driving off the live stock in Chester 
County, were : Saml. Levis, Wm. Kerlin, Sketchley Morton, John Pearson, Nicholas 
Deihl, Isaac Hendrickson, Isaac Serrill, Harvey Lewis, and Ja'c. Richards. — Col. Bee. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 301 

to a place of greater security.^ On the 31st of July, certain 
information was received of the fleet approaching and entering 
the Delaware Bay to the number of 228 vessels of war and 
transports. Arms were wanted for the Militia that had been 
called out, and as an expedient for supplying them, those per- 
sons who had refused to take the oath of allegiance were directed 
to be disarmed, " and their arms made use of by those who are 
willing, at the risk of their lives, to defend their liberty and 
property."^ 

On the same day, circulars were again issued by the Council 
to the County Lieutenants, giving the news of the approach of 
the fleet, and exhorting them to use every exertion to have the 
Militia at Chester as soon as possible. Volunteers from the 
classes not called were cordially invited " to step forward on 
this great and important occasion, before it may be their turn 
to go into the field in the class to which they belonged. The 
persons appointed to drive off" the cattle and other live stock 
from the neighborhood of the river, were also notified of the 
appearance of the enemy at the Capes of the Delaware, and of 
the near approach of the hour when the execution of their trust 
could no longer be delayed. At the same time they were ad- 
vised that Congress had likewise committed to their care the 
removal of wagons and carts. The works at Billingsport were 
hurried on towards completion, and every arrangement within 
the means of the Council was made to resist the invaders. 

Persons were appointed to take an account of all the wheat, 
flour, grain and other stores in the County of Chester within 
twenty miles westward of the river Delaware. Other gentlemen 
were appointed in the western part of the county, " for the pur- 
pose of Billetting, and providing for the poor that may be re- 
moved out of the City of Philadelphia." Suspected persons 
were also to be removed into the interior of the State. 

So confidently was the enemy expected to approach Philadel- 
phia by the Delaware, that the diflerent detachments of the 
regular army, under Washington, were ordered to march to 
the vicinity of the city, and requisitions had been made on 
several counties for wagons to be used in the transportation of 
army stores. After entering the bay, Gen. Howe found the 

1 Henry Hale Graham had for a long time held the oflSces of Prothonotary, Register, 
Recorder, <fec., for Chester County. Thos. Taylor was appointed as his successor, and 
on the 26th of March was qualified to perform the duties of these offices, but he does not 
appear to have assumed those duties, for on the 4th of April Benjamin Jacobs was 
selected by the Council for the same trust, who, if he assumed the duties thereof, never 
obtained the possession of the Records, for on the 11th of June, Caleb Davis was qualified 
as Prothonotary, Ac. Up to the 2Sth of July the Records were still in the possession of 
Henry Hale Graham, when Caleb Davis was authorized by the Council "to enter the 
dwelling and out houses" of H. H. Graham, take possession of the books and papers 
of the county, and remove them to a place of safety. 

2 Penna. Archives, v. 472. 



302 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

navigation for such an immense naval armament more difficult 
than he had expected, retraced his steps to the ocean, having 
determined to make his approach by the way of the Chesapeake. 
This movement was not at first understood by our people, for no 
tidings were received from the fleet until the 8th of August, 
when it was seen some leagues south of Delaware Bay, but soon 
again disappeared, having been prevented from entering the 
Chesapeake by contrary winds, until the 16th of that month. 
It was not, however, until the 22d that the Council was advised 
of the presence of the enemy in the Chesapeake. 

In this period of uncertainty, Washington abated not the least 
in providing for the defence of the city. On the 15th of August 
we find him giving directions for the improvement of the defences 
of the Delaware. More chevaux-de-frize were to be sunk, or 
" the left bank of Fort Island fortification supported by a good 
battery capable of resisting the cannon of the ship." The eff"ect 
of the disappearance of the enemy upon the Executive Council 
was different. They dreaded expense, and especially unneces- 
sary expense. An order that had been issued for wagons was 
countermanded on the 8th of August, and less diligence appears 
to have been used in forwarding the Militia. Up to the 16th of 
August, agreeably to the report of Col. John Evans, only about 
1000 Militia had arrived at Chester, and there was no shelter 
for more, " all the empty houses being occupied." These troops 
were from the counties of Berks, Cumberland, Lancaster and 
Chester. The following letter from the Council to some of the 
Pennsylvania delegation in Congress, still further exhibits the 
great anxiety of that body to avoid expense, and may serve to 
explain the policy that lessened the efficiency of the Militia when 
called into actual service : 

" Philadelphia, 20th Augt. 1777. 
" Gent : 

" Council desire, that you will represent to Congress that 
the Militia last called out in this State, have been rendezvousing 
at Chester, and are still arriving there. As this is the season 
for sowing winter corn, on which this county greatly depends, 
& labourers are become very scarce, they are sensible that great 
distress must ensue upon continuing these people embodied. In 
this circumstance, it will afibrd very sensible satisfaction to the 
Council, as well as relief to the industrious Inhabitants, if public 
afi'airs may admit of the dismissing of part of the Militia, espe- 
cially as they are very deficient in Arms, & blankets, & totally 
unprovided with tents." 

Two days later, when news of the approach of the enemy by 
way of the Chesapeake was received, a very sudden change took 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 303 

place in the measures adopted by the Council. The threatened 
danger was at hand. Economy yielded to necessity, and the 
Council at once resumed the work of preparation with vigor, 
which had been unwisely slackened during the short period that 
the enemy remained invisible. Additional troops were ordered 
to Chester, and an equal number to Downingtown ; the militia 
from Northampton that had been ordered to proceed northward, 
were now directed to proceed to Lancaster " with all possible 
expedition," and in pursuance of a recommendation of Congress, 
all disaffected persons were ordered to be arrested and sent into 
the interior. 

The fleet passed up the Elk river as far as the ships could be 
navigated with safety, and on the 25th of August landed about 
18,000 men, "in good health and spirits, admirably supplied 
with all the implements of war, and led by an experienced 
general, of unquestionable military talents."^ On the day before 
Howe landed, the American army passed through Philadelphia 
and marched towards the Brandywine. Being deficient in the 
means of transportation for army baggage, a pressing request 
was made upon the Council to supply the deficiency. This re- 
quest was promptly responded to by an order upon the Justices 
of the Counties of Philadelphia and Chester ; each county being 
required to furnish twenty-five wagons with four horses each. 

General John Armstrong was placed in command of the militia 
at Chester. In a letter to the President of the Council, dated 
at that place on the 29th of August, we are informed that out of 
the "chaos" in which Gen, Armstrong had found things at that 
place, he had then forwarded 1,800 men ; that in concert with 
Gen. Potter he had formed a rifle regiment [battalion], and 
placed at the head of it Col. Dunlap, " a prudent man, and not 
unacquainted with the business of a partisan." This rifle bat- 
talion, consisting of three hundred privates, which was to march 
from Marcus Hook the next day, and one hundred and fifty sent 
from Billingsport the same day, were exclusive of the number 
above' mentioned. The head quarters of Gen. Washington were 
now at Wilmington, where these troops united with the regular 
army. On the first of September, the militia that had been 
called out in Lancaster County were also ordered by Gen. 
Washington to join his army at Wilmington. 

Up to the 3d of September, the enemy had made but little 
progress towards Philadelphia. Gen. Maxwell had advanced 
with a body of light troops to Iron Hill, in Pencader Hundred, 
Delaware, where on that day he was attacked by a column of the 
British army, led by Lord Cornwallis, and driven beyond White 
Clay Creek, with a loss of forty killed and wounded.^ Up to the 

1 Marshall's Life of Washinston. i. 153. 2 lb. 155. 



304 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

5t]i of September, the main body of the American army had 
remained in the vicinity of Wilmington, where some works had 
been thrown up. On that day, the whole body was removed to 
Newport, and occupied a position between that place and Red 
Clay Creek, except Gen. Irwin's brigade, which remained at 
Wilmington in charge of the works at that place. According to 
the best information that could then be obtained, the British 
troops were spread over a " considerable space of country, but in 
a detached way, from Couch's Mills to some part of Notting- 
ham."^ 

Pursuant to a recommendation of Congress, a call was made 
by the Executive Council, on the 6th of September, for 5,000 
militia in addition to those already in the field. They were 
ordered to rendezvous on the heights of Darby, "with what 
arms they have or can procure, and otherwise equipped in the 
best manner they may be able." These equipments, including 
blankets, in case they were taken by the enemy or otherwise 
unavoidably lost, were to be paid for by the State. ^ 

In order to strengthen the army, Gen. Washington had with- 
drawn nearly all the troops from the defensive works on the 
Delaware. The Navy Board became apprehensive " that some 
parts of the enemy's fleet would soon attempt to invade the 
city," and on the 5th of September communicated its plans of 
defence to the Executive Council. Hog Island and the meadows 
were to be laid under water ; flats and boats should be provided 
to make a bridge from Fort Island to Province Island; ninety 
or one hundred men should be put in the fort at Darby Creek; 
four pieces of cannon should be got to Billingsport ; some person 
to be put in charge of the fort at Fort Island, and thirty men to 
be ready to be put on Bush Island. In pursuance of these sug- 
gestions, Col. Jehu Eyres, with two companies of militia artillery, 
was ordered to repair to the works that have been named, where, 
in conjunction with the commanders of the fleet, he wais to exert 
himself "to take, burn, sink or otherwise destroy the enemy's 
ships or vessels that may attempt to invade this or the neigh- 
bouring States." He was promised a reinforcement of militia 
from Buck's County.^ 

Information having been communicated to the American camp 
at Newport, that the enemy had disencumbered themselves of all 
heavy baggage. General Washington at once determined to put 
his army in a like condition. A requisition was made by the 
Quartermaster-General, on the 7th of September, upon the Exec- 

1 Penna. Archives, v. 587. 

2 lb. 692. The Council regarded this call for militia as unnecessary, in which opi- 
nion Gen. Armstrong concurred. lb. 598. 

3 Penna. Archives, v. 590. 




^.'.'^i^' 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 305 

utive Council for a sufficient number of teams, for the removal 
of all baggage except blankets and a few small clothes. These 
teams were "to be placed in the rear of the divisions, and im- 
mediately on an alarm, the tents and small packs left with the 
men, were to be sent over Brandywine."^ 

Up to the 8th of September, the opinion was entertained by 
Gen. Armstrong that the British would probably re-embark on 
the Delaware, cross over, and land at some convenient point on 
the Jersey shore, march up to the chevaux-de-frize, accompanied 
by the vessels of force, which he expected would bombard Phila- 
delphia.^ On the very day that Gen. Armstrong communicated 
this opinion to the Council, a movement of the enemy proved 
that it was not well founded. Gen. Washington had strengthened 
the position he then occupied, and, regarding it as probable that 
the fate of Philadelphia would be there decided, he had resorted 
to every means in his power to encourage his troops and stimu- 
late them to the greatest exertions. But the movements of the 
enemy indicated a design to turn the right of the American 
army, and to cut oif all communication with Philadelphia. 
Washington (iecided at once to change his ground, and that 
night crossed the Brandywine, and took a position behind that 
stream at Chadds' Ford. General Maxwell was posted west of 
the ford on the road, and Gen. Armstrong was assigned a posi- 
tion on the east side of the Brandywine, about two miles below, 
which enabled him to guard two fords, now known as Pyle's Ford 
and Corner Ford. In order to fortify the position at Chadds' 
Ford, a breast-work was hastily thrown up on the bluff bordering 
on the flat ground a little north of the main road. Part of the 
main army was stationed above the ford to guard other passes. 

This division of the American army has been estimated, nu- 
merically, at 15,000, including the Pennsylvania Militia, com- 
manded by Gen. Armstrong. Chief Justice Marshall, who was 
present at the battle of Brandywine, estimates the effective force 
of the Americans at 11,000, including the Militia, and assigns 
his reasons why there should be such a large number of men un- 
fit for military duty.^ Thus posted, and with this small body of 
effectives, Washington patiently awaited the approach of the 
greatly superior force of the enemy. 

On the evening of the 9th, Howe marched in two columns 
which united early next morning at Kennet Square ; after which 
he advanced parties on the roads leading to Lancaster, to Chadds' 
Ford, and to Wilmington. 

The account of the noted Battle of Brandywine, which hap- 
pened on the next day, will be mainly that given by Chief Jus- 

1 Penna. Archives, v. 596. 2 n^^ 593. \ 

^ Marshall's Life of Washington, i. 154. 

20 



306 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

tice Marshall in his Life of Washington, with the addition of a 
few details, properly omitted by that author, but which it may 
be well to preserve in a strictly local history of that event. 

" The armies were now within seven miles of each other, with 
only the Brandywine between them, which opposed no serious 
obstacle to a general engagement. This was sought by Howe, 
and not avoided by Washington. 

"In the morning of the 11th, soon after day, information was 
received that the whole British army was in motion, advancing 
on the direct road leading to Chadds' Ford. The Americans 
were immediately under arms, and placed in order of battle for 
the purpose of contesting the passage of the stream. Skirmish- 
ing soon commenced between the advanced parties; and by ten 
o'clock Maxwell's corps, with little loss on either side, was 
driven over the Brandywine, below the ford. Knyphausen, 
who commanded this column, paraded on the heights, reconnoi- 
tred the American army, and appeared to be making dispositions 
to force the passage of the creek. A skirt of woods, with the 
stream, divided him from Maxwell's corps, small parties of whom 
occasionally crossed over, and kept up a scattering fire, by which 
not much execution was done. At length one of these parties, 
led by Captains Waggoner and Porterfield, engaged the British 
flank guard very closely, killed a captain with ten or fifteen pri- 
vates, drove them out of the wood, and were on the point of 
taking a field-piece. The sharpness of the skirmish, soon drew 
a large body of the British to that quarter, and the Americans 
were again driven over the Brandywine."^ 

About eleven in the morning information reached General 
Washington, that a large column of the enemy, with many field- 
pieces, had taken a road leading from Kennet Square, directly 
up the country, and was marching to fords higher up on the 
Brandywine. This information was given by Col. Ross, of 
Pennsylvania, who was in their rear, and estimated their num- 
bers at f),000 men. 

On receiving this information, Washington is said to have de- 
termined to detach Gen. Sullivan and Lord Stirling to engage 
the left division of the British army, and with the residue of his 
troops to cross Chadds' Ford in person, and attack Knyphausen. 
Before this plan could be executed, counter intelligence was re- 
ceived, inducing an opinion that the movement of the British on 
their left was a feint, and that the column of Lord Cornwallis, 
after making demonstrations of crossing the Brandywine above 
its forks, had marched down the western side of that stream to 
unite itself again with Knyphausen. 

Various and contradictory reports were, from time to time, 

1 Chief Justice Marshall was an eye witness to this skirmish. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 307 

received. Even light horsemen, specially sent to reconnoitre, 
had failed to get sight of the enemy, and, by their report, suc- 
ceeded in deceiving their General to such an extent that he was 
unwilling to credit correct intelligence when it arrived. This 
intelligence was brought about 2 o'clock by Mr. Thos. Cheyney, 
a Justice of the Peace of the neighborhood. Being unacquainted 
with the squire, Washington, at first, discredited his story, and 
it was not until the excellent character of Esq. Cheyney, and his 
devotion to the American cause, had been made known to the 
General, that he yielded a reluctant belief in the important in- 
telligence he communicated.^ 

The division of the British army under Cornwallis had taken 
a very long and circuitous route, crossing the Brandywine con- 
siderably above its forks — the west branch at Trimble's Ford, 
and the east branch at Jefferis' Ford. As soon as Washington 
became convinced that a large division of the enemy had crossed 
the Brandywine above, he immediately made a change in the 
disposition of his force. ^ The divisions commanded by Generals 
Sullivan, Stirling and Stephens, advanced farther up the Bran- 
dywine, and fronted the British columns marching down that 
stream. The division commanded by Gen. Wayne remained at 
Chadds' Ford, to keep Knyphausen in check, in which service 
Maxwell was to co-operate. Greene's division, accompanied by 
Gen. Washington in person, formed a reserve, and took a cen- 
tral position between the right and left wings. 

The divisions detached against Lord Cornwallis formed on an 
advantageous piece of ground above Birmingham Friends' Meet- 
ing-house, chiefly within what is now the lawn surrounding the 
dwelling of Mrs. Pepper; both flanks being covered with a thick 
wood. Stirling's detachment advanced to within a short distance 
of the meeting-house, where he awaited the approach of the 
enemy. After waiting for some time, the near approach of the 
British was announced, when Stirling endeavored to secure the 
highest ground in the immediate vicinity of the meeting-house, 
but when he reached that point the British had so nearly 
gained it, that he could not have formed before they would 
have been upon him. In this dilemma he threw a small force 
into the graveyard, which was enclosed with a stone wall, for 
the purpose of giving the enemy employment until he could form 

^ The earnest manner of the Squire probably had its influence in convincing the 
General. In reply to his doubtings, it is said the Squire exclaimed, "take my life, 
General, if I deceive you." It is also said that the General required him to alight from 
his horse and make a draft of the roads. Hist. Chester Co. by J. J. Lewis, Esq. 

^ Gen. Sullivan, who commanded the right of the American army, has been much 
censured for failing to obtain correct knowledge of the diversion of a part of the Brit- 
ish forces at the Battle of Brandywine, that resulted in our defeat. The charges made 
against that officer, and his defence, will be found in the Bulletin of the Hist. Society 
of Penna. vol. i. No. 8. 



308 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [177T. 

his men on the rising ground in the rear. This hody, after 
having made an obstinate resistance, rejoined the main division.^ 
Unfortunately, Sullivan's division, in taking its position, took 
too large a circuit, and was scarcely formed when the attack 
commenced. The battle began about half-past four o'clock, 
and was kept up warmly for some time. The right hav- 
ing been formed under the enemy's fire, first gave way, and 
by its flight exposed that flank of the remaining divisions to a 
galling fire. The line continued to break from the right, and 
in a short time was completely routed. The right wing made 
some attempts to rally, but being briskly charged, again broke, 
and the flight became general. 

Upon the commencement of the action on the right, the re- 
serve division under Washington and Greene pressed forward to 
the support of that wing ; but before its arrival the rout was 
complete, and nothing could be done but check the pursuit. 
For this purpose, the 10th Virginia regiment, commanded by 
Col. Stephens, and a regiment from Pennsylvania, commanded 
by Coh Stewart, (neither of which had been in action,) were 
posted advantageously on the road taken by the defeated army. 
Though dispersed by Gen. Howe, these regiments did good 
service in putting an end to the pursuit. To the same end Gen, 
Greene contributed largely. Placing himself at the head of 
Muhlenberg's brigade, in the rear of the retreating army, he 
kept up, especially from his cannon, so destructive a fire, as 
greatly to retard the advance of the enemy. At one time, it is 
said, he opened his columns for the fugitives and closed them 
against their pursuers. Arriving at length at a narrow defile, 
strongly secured on its right and left by thickets or woods, he 
immediately halted, sent forward his cannon, that they might 
be out of danger, in case of being compelled to a hasty retreat, 
and formed his troops, determined to dispute the pass with small 
arms, notwithstanding the vast superiority of his assailants. He 
efi'ected his purpose with complete success, for though he was 
dislodged by Howe, the pursuit was abandoned. 

When the American right was found to be fully engaged with 
Lord Cornwallis, Knyphausen made real dispositions for crossing 
the Brandywine. Chadds' Ford was defended by an intrench- 
ment and battery with three field-pieces and a howitzer ; this 
division of the army being under the command of Gen. Wayne. 
After some resistance the work was forced, and the defeat of 
the right being known, the left wing also withdrew from the 
ground. 

The whole American army retreated towards Chester — arriv- 
ing there by different roads and at different times in the night. 

1 Hist. Chester Co. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 309 

The loss on the side of the British was one hundred killed 
and four hundred wounded ; among the former was a young man 
named Percy, said to be a relative of the Duke of Northumber- 
land.^ The loss on the side of the Americans was nine hundred 
killed and wounded. Among the wounded was the Marquis de 
la Fayette. As but few Americans were killed or wounded in 
the retreat, the inequality in the loss sustained has been at- 
tributed to the inferiority of their arms ; many of their muskets 
being wholly unfit for service. 

Gen. Howe has received great applause for the plan of this 
battle, which, but for one circumstance, was the very best that 
could have been adopted. The circuit taken by the division 
under Cornwallis was too great. Had Gen. Washington re- 
ceived early and correct information of the wide separation of 
the two divisions of the British army, he would have crossed the 
Brandywine with his whole force, and made an attack on Knyp- 
hausen with almost a certainty of success, and could have been 
ready to meet the division under Cornwallis by the time it ar- 
rived, or upon some future day as best suited his convenience.^ 
To one acquainted with the distance and the ground traveled 
over by the detached wing of the British army, the taking of 
such a wide circuit, appears like a serious mistake on the part 
of Lord Howe, and one that would have changed the fate of the 
day, but for the extraordinary combination of circumstances that 
kept Washington in ignorance or in doubt in respect to the ex- 
tent and character of the movement, until it was too late to take 
advantage of it. 

Upon the arrival of Gen. Washington at Chester, he ad- 
dressed the following letter to Congress, by whose order it was 
published : 

" Chester, September 11. 1777. Twelve 
O'clock at Night." 
"Sir: 

" I am sorry to inform you, that in this day's engagement, 
we have been obliged to leave the enemy masters of the field. 
Unfortunately the intelligence received of the Enemy's ad- 
vancing up the Brandywine and crossing at a ford about six 
miles above us, was uncertain and contradictory, notwithstanding 
all my plans to get the best. This prevented my making a dis- 
position adequate to the force with which the enemy attacked 
us on our right; in consequence of which, the troops first en- 
gaged were obliged to retire, before they could be reinforced. — 

^ Tradition converts this young man into a Lord Percy, but that is a mistake. 
See note to Joseph Townsend's account of the battle of Brandywine, p. 29. 

2 Jefferis's Ford at which Cornwallis crossed the East Branch of the Bran4y- 
wine is six miles above Chadds' Ford. 



310 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

In the midst of the attack on the right, that hody of the enemy 
that remained on the other side of Chad's ford, crossed it and 
attacked the division there under the command of General 
Wayne, and the light troops under General Maxwell ; who after 
a severe conflict, also retired. The Militia under the command 
of General Armstrong, being posted at a ford about two miles 
below Chad's, had no opportunity of engaging. 

" But though we fought under many disadvantages, and were 
from the cause above mentioned, obliged to retire, yet our loss 
of men is not, I am persuaded, very considerable ; I believe 
much less than the enemy's. We have also lost seven or eight 
pieces of cannon according to the best information I can at 
present obtain. — The baggage having been previously moved 
off is all secure ; saving the men's blankets, which being at 
their backs, many of them doubtless are lost : 

"I have directed all the troops to assemble behind Chester, 
where they are now arranging for the night. — Notwithstanding 
the misfortunes of the day, I am happy to find the troops in 
good spirits; and I hope another time we shall compensate for 
the losses now sustained. 

" The Marquis La Fayette was wounded in the leg, and 
General Woodford in the hand. Divers other officers were 
wounded and some slain, but the numbers of either cannot now 
be ascertained. " G. Washington. 

" P. S. It has not been in my power to send you earlier in- 
telligence ; the present being the first leisure moment I have 
since the engagement." 

On the next day, the American army marched through Darby 
to Philadelphia, where it was probably joined by straggling 
parties who had not reached Chester : one of these, accom- 
panied by a wagon load of the wounded, with a surgeon, reached 
Gibbons' tavern in Springfield about ten o'clock on the night of 
the battle. Here their wounds were dressed and their wants 
supplied with everything the house could afford. They left 
early in the morning, for fear of being overtaken by the enemy.^ 

While the American army was stationed on the Brandywine, 
Washington occupied the dwelling of Benjamin Ring, a mile 
from Chadds' Ford, as his headquarters. This house is now 
owned and occupied by Joseph Harvey, and. has undergone 
some modifications since it was occupied by the " father of his 
country." The annexed lithograph represents the appearance 
the building then presented, as nearly as those who had been 
acquainted with it could convey the same to the artist, with the 
exception that it then had what is called a hipped roof. 

1 Related by Mary Ash, aged 96 years, now deceased. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 311 

The quarters of La Fayette were at the dwelling of Gideon 
Gilpin, who was still living in the same house when La Fayette 
visited this country in 1825. The procession that accompanied 
the General to the Brandjwine battle-ground, stopped in front 
of the house while he paid his respects to old Gideon, who was 
then on his death-bed. This property is now owned by Samuel 
Painter, who has erected a neat mansion near the old house, 
which yet remains in nearly its former condition. 

A little above the road leading from Dilworth's town to 
Brandywine, on the descending ground, there stood a small 
house occupied by a man named Brown at the time of the 
battle. When Brown discovered that the Americans were re- 
treating, followed by the British, he ran out of his house, and 
huzzaed for King George at the top of his voice. An Ameri- 
can rifleman within hearing, indignant at his treachery, shot 
Brown just as he re-entered bis dwelling, the ball passing 
through the fleshy part of his arm. 

At the time of the battle, Edward Brinton, Esq., then an 
aged man, owned and occupied the property of the late Edward 
B. Darlington, on the road leading from Dilworth's town to the 
Brandywine. When that division of the American army that 
met the British at and near Birmingham Meeting-house was 
retreating, closely followed by the enemy, and before the firing 
had ceased, a number of British officers stopped at the house of 
Squire Brinton, set out the dining table, and drank ten or a 
dozen bottles of wine in a very short space of time ; after 
which some of them passed into another part of the house 
where the old gentleman was sitting. One of these officers said 
to him, " Well, old gentleman, what do you think of these 
times ?" The Squire replied that he did not approve of all the 
measures of the Americans, but that he thought the acts of the 
British Government had been cruel and oppressive. To this the 
officer replied : " Indeed, old gentleman, I think so too, and had 
it not been for your declaration of independence, I never would 
have drawn my sword in America."^ 

In the fight at Birmingham Meeting-house, a party of the 
Americans for a time occupied a position inside of the rear 
wall of the grave-yard. A number of the British fell here. 
The killed of both armies who fell in the vicinity of the 
meeting-house, were buried in the grave-yard which partly sur- 
rounds it ; their remains occupying one common grave just in- 
side of the gate, and on the side of it next to the meeting-house. 

1 This anecdote was communicated to me by Thomas Darlington, Esq., now in 
his 79th year. Mr. Darlington is the grandson of Edward Brinton. I am indebted 
to Mr. D. for several facts of local interest connected with the battle of Brandy- 
wine, and other matters in that neighborhood. 



312 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

The meeting-house was used as a hospital while the British 
army remained in the neighborhood. 

A Major Furgesson, who was the commander of a small corps 
of riflemen attached to the British army, mentions an incident 
which he says took place, while he lay concealed in a small skirt 
of wood in front of Knyphausen's division. In a letter to Dr. 
Furgesson, he writes : " We had not lain long when a rebel 
officer, remarkable for a huzzar dress, passed towards our army, 
within one hundred yards of my right flank, not perceiving us. 
He was followed by another dressed in dark green and blue, 
mounted on a good bay horse, with a remarkably high cocked 
hat. I ordered three good shots to steal near to them ; but the 
idea disgusted me ; I recalled the order. The huzzar, in return- 
ing, made a circuit, but the other passed within a hundred 
yards of us ; upon which I advanced from the woods towards him. 
Upon my calling, he stopped ; but looking at me, he proceeded. 
I again drew his attention, and made a sign to him to stop, but 
he slowly continued on his way. As I was within that distance 
at which, in the quickest firing, I could have lodged half a dozen 
balls in or about him before he was out of my reach, I had only 
to determine ; but it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an 
unofiending individual, who was acquitting himself very coolly 
of his duty, so I let him alone. The day after, when I was telling 
this story to some wounded officers, who lay in the same room 
with me, when one of our surgeons, who had been dressing the 
rebel ofl&cers, came in and told me that General Washington was 
all that morning, with the light troops and only accompanied by 
a French officer in a huzzar dress, he, himself, dressed and 
mounted in every way as above described. I am not sorry that 
I did not know at the time who it was." The good genius of 
Washington never forsook him.^ 

The young man, Percy, supposed to be a relative of the Duke 
of Northumberland, before mentioned, was killed near the meet- 
ing-house. The following anecdote is related of him : " When 
he had arrived, with the regiment he accompanied, in sight of the 
Americans ranged in order of battle upon the heights near Bir- 
mingham meeting-house, he surveyed the field around him for a 
moment, and then turning to his servant, handed him his purse 
and his gold watch to take charge of, remarking, ' this place I 
saw in a dream before I left England, and I know I shall fall 
here.' The coincidence was striking and remarkable — the event 
verified the prediction. His name is not mentioned in the British 
official account of the battle, because he held no commission in 
the army. He was merely a volunteer."^ 

The place where La Fayette received his wound, as pointed 

1 Hist. Chester County. ^ lb. 



1777. j HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 313 

out by himself in 1825, was on the high ground a little northwest 
of the new frame public school-house. It occurred while Wash- 
ington, in person, and the worthy young Frenchmen were endea- 
voring to rally some of the retreating regiments. Some hard 
fighting took place at this point. 

For two days after the battle of Brandywine, the chief part of 
the British army lay encamped about Dilworth's town. During 
this time Gen. Howe had his headquarters at the house now owned 
and occupied by George Gilpin. It was probably occupied by 
a person of the same name at that time. 

On the day after the battle, a detachment of the British army, 
under Gen. Grant, marched to Concord meeting-house, where 
Lord Cornwallis, with the balance of the army, joined him on 
the 13th. From this point the main body of the army moved to 
Village Green and encamped, leaying a detachment at Concord 
to guard the wounded left at the meeting-house. Another de- 
tachment was sent to Wilmington, to which place some of the 
wounded were also removed. 

The encampment at Village Green was the largest ever estab- 
lished within the limits of Delaware County, extending from 
Mount Hope to the lower part of what is now Village Green, 
where Gen. Howe had his headquarters in the old brick house 
still standing. There is evidence that the British were in pos- 
session of the town of Chester, four miles from this encampment, 
on the 13th of the month. ^ The depredations committed on the 
property of the people within the bounds of this County, by the 
British army under Gen. Howe, between the time of the battle 
of Brandywine and his evacuation of Philadelphia, were enor- 
mous. Many families were stripped of every article they pos- 
sessed, and left in a state of perfect destitution.^ It is but 
fair to infer that many of these enormities were committed 
against the wishes of the commanding General, as the tories 
were frequently great sufferers, though the whig families suffered 
the most. The British army had not before occupied a district 
of country so rich as this in agricultural products, nor one in 
which each farm-house was so well stored with everything that 
could minister to the real comforts of life. An abundant field 
was presented from which these reckless freebooters did not fail 
to gather a rich harvest, leaving little to glean, when time and op- 
portunity was afterwards afforded them to finish their wicked work. 
The plundering was by no means confined to articles that would 
be useful to the army ; every article of female apparel was taken 
from some houses, and the furniture carried away or destroyed. 

1 Penna. Archives, v. 616. 

2 For an official statement of the losses sustained by each person, made in pur- 
suance of an Act of Assembly, see Appendix, Note J. 



314 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

While the army lay at Village Green, a tragic event occurred 
that goes* to show that Gen. Howe had become alarmed at the 
extent of these enormities, and was determined to put an end, at 
least, to unlicensed plunder. Three Hessians one night started on 
a plundering expedition, crossing Chester Creek into Middletown 
township, and entered the dwelling of Jonathan Martin, now the 
property of Bennet Temple. They compelled Mr. Martin to 
show them through the house, and to point out such articles as 
they wanted. Miss Mary Martin, the daughter of Mr. Martin, 
then aged about 18 years, and afterwards the wife of William 
Sharpless of Middletown, reprimanded them for their conduct, 
which provoked one of them to inflict a slight wound upon her 
with his bayonet. Not satisfied with the plunder obtained at 
Mr. Martin's, they proceeded to the house of a Mr. Coxe, in 
Chester township, now the property of Thomas McCall, where 
they appropriated such articles as they found suited to their 
taste, among which was a silver watch. Mr. Coxe had a daugh- 
ter about the same age as Miss Martin. On the following day, 
these two young girls proceeded to the headquarters of General 
Howe and made their complaint to him personally. He pro- 
mised that if they could point out the men, they should be pun- 
ished. The troops were at once formed into line, when the girls 
passed along and pointed out the robbers ; after which they re- 
tired to some distance. The officers then put the troops through 
various evolutions, leaving the men in different positions. The 
same men were again pointed out by the girls as the guilty par- 
ties. This operation was again repeated with a like result. The 
men were then searched, when some of the stolen property was 
found upon them. They were tried by a court martial and all 
convicted. Two of them were sentenced to be hung, and the 
third to perform the office of executioner. Upon whom the ex- 
treme penalty should be inflicted, the question was decided by 
casting lots. 

The sentence was carried out to the letter. The two men 
were hung on the limb of an apple-tree on the property owned 
by George L. Nield, in Aston ; and what is remarkable, they 
were allowed to remain hanging after the army moved away.^ 

Thomas Dutton, upon whose property part of the army lay, 
was then in his ninth year, his father being deceased. Upon 
the arrival of the army, he was subjected to a close examination 

1 This story was received from two diflFerent sources — from Thomas Dutton, now 
in his 94th year, who has a distinct recollection of the encampment, and of many 
circumstances connected with it ; and from Mr. Joseph Maneil, aged 80 years, to whom 
it was communicated by his wife (now deceased) who had received it from Mrs. Sharp- 
less (formerly Miss Martin) with whom she had resided. The onl^ difference in their 
narratives respects the number of men, Mr. Maneil names but two, both of whom were 
executed, while Mr. Dutton insists, that three were convicted, and two executed, as 
has been mentioned. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 315 

to ascertain the proclivities of his family — whether his father or 
elder brothers were rebels. Finding nothing objectionable in 
the family, the officers treated his mother kindly, with the ex- 
ception, that they appropriated to themselves her eatables 
rather too freely. They notified her that " the butter, cheese, 
and milk they must and would have, whether she received pay 
or not." They paid for everything; and upon the eve of their 
departure, notified her to secure every, species of property from 
the depredation of the camp followers ; to bolt and bar every 
window and door, and not to admit one of them on any pretence 
whatever, " as they would steal everything they could lay their 
hands on." 

A few days after the battle of Brandywine, four or five hun- 
dred of the American wounded soldiers were taken to Ephrata, 
in Lancaster County, and placed in a hospital. Here the camp 
fever set in, which, in conjunction with the wounds of the sol- 
diers, baffled the skill of the surgeons. One hundred and fifty 
soldiers died, and were buried at this place. They were prin- 
cipally from the Eastern States and from Pennsylvania, with a 
few British, who had deserted and joined the American army.^ 

When General Washington retreated to Philadelphia, the main 
body of his army encamped near Germantown, where he allowed 
his men two or three days to rest. On the 15th of the month 
he marched up the Lancaster road, and halting at the Buck 
tavern, in Haverford township, he despatched a letter to the 
Council, urging a supply of blankets for the troops. On the 
same evening he reached the Warren tavern, where, hearing of 
the approach of the enemy by the way of Goshen meeting-house, 
he resolved to give him battle, for although the conflict on the 
Brandywine had been sanguinary and disastrous, the troops were 
by no means discouraged. In fact the opinion generally pre- 
vailed that the loss on each side was nearly equal, and the 
British had gained but little more than the battle-field. 

Howe, anxious to give battle, on the next day marched towards 
the American army. Some skirmishing occurred between the 
pickets, but a rain-storm of almost unprecedented violence set 
in, and separated the two armies. The Americans retreated 
to the Yellow Springs, where they discovered that scarcely one 
musket in a regiment could be discharged, and that scarcely one 
cartridge-box was fit for use. This state of things suggested the 
precaution of moving to a greater distance. The army accord- 
ingly retired to Warwick Furnace, where a supply of ammuni- 
tion was obtained, and soon after crossed the Schuylkill, except 
the division under General Wayne, consisting of 1500 men, 
which was dispatched to the rear of the British army, where he 

1 Hist. Lancaster County, 218. 



316 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

was to join General Smallwood, who was in command of a body 
of militia. On the evening of the 20th of September, Wayne was 
encamped on the ground now marked by the "Paoli Monument," 
a pedestal erected in commemoration of the serious disaster of 
that night. General Howe, having been informed by tories re- 
siding in the neighborhood of the exact position of Wayne's 
encampment, dispatched General Gray with an adequate force 
to capture the whole party. Cautiously approaching in the 
dead of the night, and probably guided by some local enemy 
of the American cause, he drove in the pickets with charged 
bayonets, and at once rushed upon the encampmeiit. " Wayne 
instantly formed his division ; and with his right sustained a 
fierce assault, directed a retreat by the left under cover of a 
few regiments, who for a short time withstood the violence of the 
shock." The total loss of the Americans has been variously 
estimated at from 150 to 300, while the British only admit a 
loss of seven. 

When the attack commenced. General Smallwood was within 
less than a mile of Wayne's encampment, a circumstance un- 
known to General Gray. But his militia gave way on the 
approach of a party of the British returning from the pursuit of 
Wayne, with the loss of but one man. 

Some severe animadversions on this unfortunate affair having 
been made in the army. General Wayne demanded a court mar- 
tial, which, after investigating his conduct, was unanimously of 
the opinion, that Tie had done every thing to he expected, from 
an active hrave and vigilant officer ; and acquitted him with 
honor. ^ 

Having already been led into a detail of events happening 
beyond the limits of our County, a further notice of the parti- 
cular movements of the two armies will be omitted. The British 
crossed the Schuylkill on the 22d, and entered Philadelphia on 
the 26th of September, from whence both Congress and the 
Executive Council had adjourned to Lancaster only a few days 
before. 

The next object of Washington was to prevent the army at 
Philadelphia from receiving supplies from the fleet. The works 
on the Delaware have already been noticed. Immediately upon 
the entry of the British into Philadelphia, an effort was made by 
the armed vessels appearing in front of the city, to deter them 
from erecting defences. This movement resulted in the loss of 
a frigate called the Delaware, which ran aground and was cap- 
tured by the enemy. 

After the battle of Brandy wine, Lord Howe, who commanded 
the fleet, sailed to the mouth of the Delaware, and several light 

1 Marshall's Life of Washington, i. 161. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 317 

vessels entered the river. Among them was the Roebuck, whose 
commander, Capt. Hammond, was rather familiar with our waters 
and their defences. Upon his suggestion, Gen. Howe sent a 
detachment from Chester across the river under Col. Stirling to 
attack the fort at Billingsport in the rear. This was accom- 
plished on the 2d of October without resistance ; the small party 
in charge having first spiked the guns and destroyed the bar- 
racks. The site of this fort was regarded by an engineer as 
the best on the river ; much money had been expended in recon- 
structing it so as to accord with his views ; a tier of chevaux-de- 
frize had been laid across the channel opposite to it, and yet it 
is left without even an apology for a garrison for its defence. 
The capture of this fort placed it in the power of the enemy to 
make a passage through the obstruction in the channel, and to 
bring their vessels within striking distance of Fort Mifflin. 

While a division of the British army was over the river, en- 
gaged in the capture of Billingsport, Washington regarded it as 
a favorable opportunity to make an attack on the troops sta- 
tioned at Germantown. This happened on the 4th of October. 
On the same day Billingsport was abandoned by the British, 
having, it is probable, received news of the attack made on their 
troops at Germantown. Before evacuating the fort they de- 
stroyed every destructible thing left by their predecessors, and 
so injured the works as to render them almost useless for mili- 
tary purposes. As yet, however, they had not succeeded in float- 
ing any considerable part of the chevaux-de-frize, nor in making 
an available passage through them, being foiled in their efi"orts, 
both by the strength of the obstruction and the spirited attacks 
that were made by the water craft from above. On the evening 
of the 6th the enemy's vessels, nine in number, fell down to 
Chester, where they remained till the appearance of the main 
body of the fleet, which anchored below New Castle on the 8th. 

The defence of this obstruction might have been still more 
successful, but for the great defection that occurred among the 
seamen by whom the galleys, floating batteries, and other craft 
were manned. After the loss of Billingsport and the frigate 
Delaware, a despondency, ensued, that induced large numbers, 
both officers and men, to desert ; some of whom weijt over to the 
enemy. Desertions also occurred from Fort Mifilin, and Red 
Bank was nearly forsaken by the militia, to whom its defence 
had been entrusted. " This desponding temper in the troops 
was checked by the battle of Germantown, and by throwing a 
garrison of Continental troops into the fort at Red Bank, now 
called fort Mercer." The militia of New Jersey were relied on 
to reinforce the garrison, but were not forthcoming with the ex- 
pedition required at this critical time ; Lieut. Col. Smith in a 



318 HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

letter, earnestly requested a reinforcement of Continental troops. 
In consequence of the representations of this ofl&cer, Col. Angel, 
of Rhode Island, with his regiment, was ordered to Red Bank, 
and Lieut. Col. John Greene, of Virginia, with about 200 men, 
to Fort Mifflin. Previous to the arrival of these reinforcements, 
the effective force at Fort Mifflin was reduced to 156 men, and 
that at Red Bank did not much exceed 200.^ 

In order to prevent Gen. Howe from obtaining supplies for his 
army in the well-cultivated district west of the Schuylkill, Gen. 
Potter with 600 militia was ordered to scour the country between 
that river and Chester. Congress had also adopted a resolution 
subjecting to martial law and death all who should furnish pro- 
visions or certain enumerated articles, and who should be taken 
within thirty miles of any place occupied by the British troops.^ 

A battery was erected at Webb's, now Penrose's Ferry, near 
the mouth of the Schuylkill, but this was soon silenced by the 
galleys under Commodore Hazlewood. On the night of the 10th 
of October a party of over 100 men crossed over at the ferry, 
and threw up a redoubt opposite and within two musket-shots of 
the block-house on Fort Island. As soon as discovered on the 
morning of the 11th Commodore Hazlewood ordered three gal- 
leys to attack this hastily-built redoubt, and also one of the 
floating batteries to play on it, which they did so warmly that 
the enemy dared not fire a shot. 

"After about two hours the enemy held out a flag, and the 
soldiers appeared on the bank with their muskets clubbed." 
When the Commodore and Col. Bradford, who with several boats 
went off to take the prisoners on board, had succeeded in securing 
about fifty of them. Col. Smith, who was in the block-house, 
seeing some British soldiers coming from the house of Adam 
Guyer, imprudently fired two shots at them, which caused the 
balance of those who had surrendered to run off, take possession 
of their battery again, and fire on their captors. It was at first 
supposed that the soldiers coming from Guyer's were mere strag- 
glers, but it afterwards turned out that the British were there 
in force, and had just arrived to reinforce the party at the 
redoubt. The prisoners captured ^ere one lieutenant, one 
ensign, and fifty-six privates.^ 

The reinforcement sent to the enemy's redoubt was large, but 
the galleys and floating battery renewed their attack upon it in 
the afternoon. Failing to make much impression that day, on 
the morning of the 12th a party of about 150 men were landed 
from the fort on Province Island, with the intention of taking 
the redoubt under the fire of the three galleys and the floating 

1 Marshall's Life of Washington, i. 173. ^ ib. i 172. 

* Penna. Archives, v. 663. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 319 

battery ; but the number of the enemj proving to be much 
greater than was expected, under cover of the redoubt, and dis- 
covering a party equal to their own from the direction of Adam 
Guyer's, the Americans were obliged to return to the fort, with 
the loss of two men killed and five wounded. From this time 
the enemy continued to throw up works at several places in the 
meadows. 

The enemy's ships had taken a position near Billingsport, and 
had succeeded in removing one of the chevaux-de-frize. On 
the night of the 12th, the Commodore went down " with two 
chains of fire rafts to drive them away from that place," which 
being effected, he returned with his armaments to the fort. 
Several conflicts ensued at this point from day to day, the enemy 
succeeding, by degrees, in removing portions of the obstruction 
in the channel. 

The army under Gen. Washington was now in the most desti- 
tute situation for the want of clothing, blankets, &c., besides 
which, no provision had been made for the recruits coming in. 
A strong appeal was made by Gen. Washington to Congress for 
supplies, who, in turn, had the matter brought to the notice of 
the Executive Council. The following order from that body 
sufiiciently explains the means resorted to, to obtain a portion of 
these supplies, without which the army could not have been con- 
tinued in the field : 

" In Council, Lancaster, October 21, 1777. 
" Ordered, 

" That Col. Evan Evans, Col. Wm. Evans, Col. Thomas, 
Col. Gibbons, Capt. Thomas Levis, Capt. William Brooks, and 
Capt. Jacob Rudolph, be authorized and required to collect 
without delay, from such of the inhabitants of the County of 
Chester as have not taken the oaths of allegiance and abjuration, 
or who have aided or assisted the enemy, arms and accoutre- 
ments, blankets, shoes and stockings, for the use of the army ; 
that they appraise the same when taken, according to their 
quality, allowing at the rate of three pounds for a new single 
blanket, and give certificates for the same to the owners ; that 
they call to their aid the militia of this Commonwealth, who are 
hereby ordered to obey and assist them in the execution of this 
order ; and that they deliver the same, so taken, to the order of 
the Clothier General, or his agent, with whom they are to cor- 
respond in the discharge of this business."^ 

The Quakers having generally refused to take the oath of al- 
legiance and abjuration, were, no doubt, great sufferers from the 

1 Penna. Archives, v. 691, 



S20 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

enforcement of this order ; for, in addition to the inconvenience 
of parting with articles provided for family use, their conscien- 
tious scruples would not permit them to receive the proffered 
compensation. 

It was not until the middle of October that the enemy had so 
far succeeded in removing the obstruction in the river between 
Billingsport and Hog Island, as to afford a narrow and intricate 
passage through them. In the mean time, the fire from the 
Pennsylvania shore had not produced all the effect expected from 
it ; and it was perceived that greater exertions would be neces- 
sary for the reduction of the works than could safely be made 
in the present relative position of the armies. Howe, therefore, 
withdrew his troops from Germantown preparatory to a combined 
attack by land and water upon forts Mercer and Mifflin. 

In pursuance of his plan for securing the control of the Dela- 
ware, Howe, on the 22d of October, detached Count Dunop with 
1200 Hessians, to capture the fort at Red Bank, orders having 
been issued for a simultaneous attack to be made on Fort Mifflin 
by water. The out-works at Red Bank were too extensive for 
the garrison, but to obviate the difficulty, an inner embankment, 
eight or nine feet high, "boarded and fraized," had been 
thrown up. The attack was made about four o'clock in the 
evening upon the outworks, after a summons to surrender had 
been answered by a reply of defiance. The garrison maintained 
its position for a time, but upon the near approach of the enemy, 
fell back behind the inner work. The Hessians, supposing 
themselves in possession of the fortress, rushed forward in some 
confusion, when the Americans, from their second, but more se- 
cure position, poured upon the advancing masses such a destruc- 
tive fire, that they were forced to retire as rapidly as they had 
approached. The loss of the Hessians was estimated at 400, 
including Count Dunop and his second in command, while the 
whole American loss, in killed and wounded, was only thirty-two 
men. The garrison had been re-enforced from Fort Mifflin, and 
was aided by the galleys which flanked the Hessians in their ad- 
vance and retreat.^ 

Early on the same day, several of the enemy's ships passed 
the lower chevaux-de-frize, and awaited the assault on Red 
Bank before opening upon the galleys and floating batteries. 
At the appointed signal the action on the river commenced, part 
of the manoeuvring of the enemy's ships being intended to draw 
off the galleys that were aiding in the defence of Red Bank. 
The ships that came up were the Augusta, a new 64, the Roe- 
buck, 44, two frigates, the Merlin of 18 guns, and a galley car- 
rying a 82-pounder. These were driven back by the galleys and 

1 Marshall's Life of Washington, i. 174. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 321 

floating batteries, without having accomplished any material part 
of their mission ; but in going down, the Augusta and Merlin ran 
aground, owing, it is said, to some change having been caused in 
the channel by the artificial obstructions. The unfortunate 
situation of these vessels was not known to the Americans that 
night, but failing to get off at flood tide, their helpless condition 
was fully understood early in the morning, when they were 
furiously set upon by twelve galleys and two floating batteries, 
under the command of Commodore Hazlewood. The Roebuck, two 
frigates and a galley, attempted to defend the disabled vessels, 
but it was to little purpose, for so fierce and terrible was the fire 
from the American fleet that the Augusta was soon in flames, 
and blew up about noon, making so terrific an explosion that 
great apprehensions were entertained at the Head Quarters of 
the army — now at Skippac — for the safety of the fort, as the 
explosion was attributed to the blowing up of the magazine. 
The action was still continued with the other vessels, but the 
enemy was forced to give way, first setting fire to the Merlin 
which also exploded. It is supposed the Augusta lost 150 or 
160 men in killed and drowned; the Roebuck was driven from 
her station, having six killed and ten wounded. The fire-ships 
that had been prepared with so much care and expense, were 
sent against the enemy's vessels ; but the combustibles being 
ignited too soon, they served no valuable purpose. Two guns, 
clothing and other plunder, were obtained from the wreck of the 
Augusta the next day.^ 

A brisk cannonade was kept up against Fort Mifflin by the 
batteries on the Pennsylvania shore during both days, which 
was responded to in the best manner that the condition of the 
fort and circumstances of the garrison would permit. It was 
commanded by Lieut. Col. Smith of Maryland. The batteries 
on the Pennsylvania shore had been reinforced and supplied with 
provisions, just before these attacks on the forts and galleys. 
Gen. Greene with a large body of men was detached to attack 
what was supposed to be an escort of provisions, &c., for these 
batteries. What was supposed to be an escort proved to be a 
large detachment, which proceeded no further than Gray's Ferry ; 
the wagons with provisions, one hundred and thirteen in num- 
ber, in the mean time were allowed to pass unmolested, and 
return by way of the Blue Bell. When Gen. Greene arrived at 
the bridge he found the post evacuated and the bridge torn to 
pieces. Some works, however, had been commenced by the 
enemy, and some huts built, which the detachment destroyed 
and then returned to camp.^ 

Gen. Potter, who, with a body of militia, was detailed to 

1 Penna. Archives, v. 708-721. 2 jb. 701. 

21 



322 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

scour the country between the Schuylkill and Chester to prevent 
supplies reaching the enemy, exhibited considerable daring in 
the performance of his duties. In a letter to Council dated on 
the 27th of October, he speaks of having in one day, in com- 
pany with a few horsemen, visited the upper, middle and Gray's 
Ferries, Tinicum Island and Carpenter's Island, where he viewed 
the enemy's works, and saw what he calls an Abess work thrown 
up in Guyer's orchard. After this visit to the meadows, he 
learned that a small breast-work had been thrown up at Boon's dam 
and mounted with one gun. On the next day, in company with 
Generals Reed and Cadwalader, he visited Darby and Chester. 
At and below the latter place, sixty of the enemy's ships were 
lying. He informs the Council that he had put a stop to the 
transportation of marketing to the enemy, and had removed all 
the beef cattle and flour from this part of the country.^ 

The garrison at Fort Mifflin had been subjected to very severe 
duty, expecting at any moment to be attacked by the troops in 
the intrenchments on the Pennsylvania shore, and from the 
enemy's ships in the river. Washington had determined not to 
divide his army so as to be unprepared for another general en- 
gagement, in case Howe should afford him an opportunity, until 
the troops should arrive from the North, which, since the sur- 
render of Burgoyne, were confidently expected. He did, how- 
ever, parsimoniously divide three hundred Pennsylvania militia 
between this fort and Red Bank. Gen. Varnum was also 
stationed with his brigade near Woodbury, with instructions 
" to relieve and reinforce the garrisons of both forts as far as 
his strength would permit." 

After the repulse at Red Bank, and the loss of the two war 
vessels, Gen. Howe became more careful in his movements. 
While he still persisted in his plan of opening a communication 
with the fleet by the Delaware, his preparations were such as 
would secure that object without any unnecessary exposure of 
his troops. Having completed his preparations, the large bat- 
teries on Province Island and on the margin of the river below, 
now well supplied with heavy guns, opened on Fort Mifflin early 
in the morning of the 10th of November, and kept up a constant 
fire during five successive days. " The block houses were re- 
duced to a heap of ruins, the palisades were beaten down, and 
most of the guns were dismounted and otherwise disabled." The 
barracks were so much injured that the troops, when an interval 
of firing afforded them an opportunity to take a few moments 
repose, were obliged to lie on the earth, now rendered muddy 
by having been intentionally, but unadvisedly, flooded by 
opening the sluices. At night a large force was required to' 

1 Penna. Archives, v. 718. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 323 

repair, as much as possible, the damages of the day ; and being 
under a constant apprehension of an attack by a storming party, 
little opportunity was afforded for repose, and but for the relief 
afforded by Gen. Varnum, the duties would have been too 
arduous to bear. 

It was the opinion of both Col. Smith and Gen. Varnum, that 
the garrison could not withstand an assault, and Gen. Washing- 
ton believing that none would be made until the works were bat- 
tered down, gave orders for the" defence of the place to the last 
extremity, which were literally obeyed. These orders, which 
have the appearance of being severe under the circumstances, 
were probably induced by the report of Major Feury, a French 
Engineer, who believed the place was still defensible. Col. 
Smith was wounded on the second day of the siege, when the 
command devolved upon Col. Russell and subsequently upon 
Major Thayer. 

On the 14th a floating battery of the enemy was silenced, but 
on the 15th "the assailants brought up their ships as far as the 
obstructions in the river permitted, and added their fire to that 
of the batteries, which was the more fatal, as the cover for the 
troops had been greatly impaired. The brave garrison still 
maintained their ground with unshaken firmness. In the midst 
of this stubborn conflict, the Vigilant and a sloop of war were 
brought up the inner channel, between Mud and Province and 
Carpenter Islands, which had, unobserved by the besieged, been 
deepened by the current in consequence of the obstructions in 
the main channel ; and taking a station within one hundred 
yards of the works, not only kept up a destructive cannonade, 
but threw hand grenades into them, while the musqueteers from 
the round-top of the Vigilant killed every man that appeared 
on the platform."^ 

An effort was made by the galleys to drive these vessels away, 
but it could not be accomplished on account of the batteries on 
the Pennsylvania shore. With these vessels in the inner chan- 
nel, it was impossible to continue the defence of the fort, and 
accordingly, about eleven o'clock on the night of the 15th, 
it was evacuated, the garrison retiring to Red Bank. Before 
leaving they set fire to the barracks, and moved off the cannon 
and stores. No troops ever behaved with more firmness — the 
fort being perfectly riddled before it was evacuated.^ 

The loss at the fort is not officially reported, but it was not 
considerable before the last day of the conflict. It is reported 
that Lord Cornwallis confessed that the enemy "lost a great 

1 Marshall's Life ofWashington, i. 178. 

2 The mark of a cannon ball having passed through an old brick house one mile 
from the fort, supposed to be Guyer's house, is still visible. 



324 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1777. 

number of brave fellows," at the same time calling the site of 
the fort, " a cursed little mud island."^ 

The loss on board of the galleys and other craft, constituting the 
American fleet, on the 15th, was thirty-eight killed and wounded. 
It cannot be denied that this fleet rendered much more effective 
service in defence of the chevaux-de-frize, and against the pas- 
sage of the enemy's vessels, than all the forts put together. 
The vessels chiefly belonged to Pennsylvania, and were in the 
service of the State. From that cause, or some other, a mis- 
understanding existed between the officers of the fort and those 
of the fleet, which probably led Gen. Washington to underrate 
the importance of the latter in defending the obstructions 
placed in the river. The vessels were at no time fully manned, 
and on the last day's engagement several were not brought into 
action, partly from the want of men to work them, although the 
commander, from time to time, had implored Washington to 
furnish him with the necessary reinforcement.^ 

After the evacuation of Fort Mifilin, it was decided by a con- 
ference of land officers, that the upper chevaux-de-frize could 
still be defended by holding Red Bank and the Jersey shore, 
notwithstanding a council of naval officers had concluded that 
the galleys could not be very serviceable with the fort in the 
hands of the enemy. It was determined by Washington to 
make the effort, 'and accordingly General Greene was detached 
with a considerable body of troops to reinforce Fort Mercer, and 
to conduct military aflairs in that neighborhood. 

Gen. Howe having completed a line of defence from the 
Schuylkill to the Delaware, and a reinforcement of troops from 
New York having arrived at Chester, he felt strong enough to 
place an army in New Jersey sufficient to reduce Fort Mercer 
without jeoparding his troops in Philadelphia. Accordingly, 
at noon on the 17th, Lord Cornwallis crossed the Middle Ferry 
with 3000 men, and taking the Darby road, proceeded to 
Chester. At the Blue Bell they came upon a guard of Gen. 
Potter's scouts, and captured about thirty-three men, with a loss 
of one Captain, one Sergeant-Major, and three privates, killed, 
and several wounded. Being joined at Chester by the reinforce- 
ment from New York, his Lordship, with the united force, em- 
barked on board of transports the next day, and on the 19th 
disembarked at Billingsport. Some little skirmishing occurred ; 
but General Greene learning how greatly the force of the enemy 
exceeded his, recrossed the Delaware, and Fort Mercer was 
evacuated without an efi"ort to defend it; while the fleet, waiting 

1 Penna. Archives, vi. 23. 

2 As a means of defence, the banks of all the Tinicum meadows were cut, and 
the tides permitted to enter, but the exact time when this was done is not known. 



1777.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 325 

for a favorable opportunity, passed the city at night, without 
being molested, except a few vessels which were burnt to pre- 
vent them from falling into the hands of the enemy. Thus, 
after a protracted effort of six weeks, the British General suc- 
ceeded in forming a junction with the fleet. 

But little occurred within the limits of our County during the 
winter, which was now at hand, except sundry depredations 
committed by foraging parties sent out by the enemy, and the 
skirmishes that ensued when those parties came in contact with 
the American scouts that were constantly on the watch for them. 
In a letter from Gen. Potter, dated at Radnor on the 28th of 
December, one of these encounters is thus described : " On 
Monday last the enemy caine out with a view to forrage; they 
encamped along the road from Gray's Ferry to the heights below 
Darby. There was a detachment sent down from our army to 
this place, who with Morgans Riflemen and the Militia went 
down to their lines and kept them close therein. On Tuesday 
we took thirteen of their light horse and ten of their horsemen, 
the next day two more of their horses and their riders. They 
have been prevented from plundering the inhabitants as they 
usually (lo. * * * * * We had one killed and two wounded. 
We have taken upwards of twenty prisoners, and a number of 
deserters have come in. They have carried ofi" a large quantity 
of Hay from the Islands, and Darby. * * * * *"i 

It sometimes happened that some of our militia scouts were 
captured by the enemy, when not sufiiciently on their guard. 
About this period, such a party, under the command of the late 
Gen. Wm. Brooke, of Haverford, who was then a captain, were 
one night taking their ease in a house, late the property of 
George Swayne, a mile below Darby, when the house was sud- 
denly surrounded by a larger party of the enemy. Brooke, de- 
termined not to be taken, leaped from a window and ran, but in 
getting over the fence into the road, found that a partial dislo- 
cation of his knee, to which he was subject, had happened. 
Putting his foot through the fence, and giving his leg a quick 
extension, the joint was brought into a proper condition, when 
he hastily made his escape. 

Chester County, about this period, was infested with a bold 
and daring outlaw named James Fitz Patrick, but who generally 
went by the name of Fitz or Fitch. He was the son of an 
Irishman in low circumstances, and learned the blacksmith 
trade with John Passmore, a worthy citizen of the County. He 
joined the militia at the breaking out of the war, and accom- 

1 Pemia. Arcliives, vi. 141. It appears that the American party had been specially 
sent by Gen. Washington to destroy the hay and prevent it from falling into the 
hands of the enemy. Marshall's Life of "Washington, i. 213. 



326 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1778. 

panied the battalions that went to New York, but soon deserted 
and returned to his native county, where he was arrested, and 
afterwards confined in Wahiut street prison in Philadelphia. 
Being released on condition of joining the Continental army, he 
soon deserted again, and once more returned to his native County, 
and went to work. Here he was arrested by two soldiers sent 
for the purpose. He obtained permission from the soldiers to 
visit his mother, but while there, seized his rifle and set them at 
defiance. He had now become so much oifended at the Ameri- 
cans, that he determined on being revenged, and accordingly, 
when General Howe landed at the head of Elk, Fitz repaired to 
him; probably received some appointment, and doubtless, from 
his knowledge of the country, rendered him essential service. 
He was present at the battle of Brandywine, and afterwards 
accompanied the British army to Philadelphia. While the 
enemy remained in that place, he, in company with one Morde- 
cai Dougherty, from the neighborhood of Doe Run, and others, 
employed his time in capturing good Whigs and in stealing 
horses ; carrying them within the British lines. One Lieut. 
Joseph Lucky, and Peter Burgandine, were among the number 
thus captured. It was believed that these desperadoes were 
secreted and supplied with provisions by certain Tories of 
Newlin and neighboring inhabitants of Chester County. 

After the evacuation of Philadelphia by the British army, 
Captain Fitz, as he was generally called, established his head 
quarters on the Valley Hill, in the neighborhood of the present 
village of Coatsville, and commenced, on his own responsibility, 
a depredatory war upon the Whigs of Chester County. After 
having plundered his victims of their property, it was his custom, 
and appeared to be his delight, to flog and otherwise abuse them. 
So numerous and high-handed were the atrocities committed by 
him, that his presence caused as much alarm in some neighbor- 
hoods as that of the British army. 

On one occasion, Fitz and Dougherty went into the harvest 
field of one James Shield, where Archibald Hambleton was reap- 
ing, and Fitz told Shield that he had borrowed his watch, a pair 
of silver buckles and shoes. Shield insisted that he should 
return them ; but Fitz returned for answer that it would depend 
on his behaviour towards him. Hambleton was then taken pri- 
soner, and carried to his father's house, where they robbed him 
of a rifle, powder-horn and shot-pouch; after which, Fitz got 
the Bible, and forced him to swear " that he would not follow or 
betray him, or disturb any of his neighbours or friends on his 
account, and if he did, he would come and burn their house, and 
likewise the houses of the Rebels in the neighbourhood." They 
both threatened the lives of several persons in the neighborhood, 
whom they named. 



1778.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 327 

Captain Fitz frequently fell in with armed men, but before 
making himself known, he would seize an opportunity to disarm 
them. Having placed his pursuers in his power, he would tie 
them to trees and flog them. On one occasion, about fifty men 
were in pursuit of him, who incautiously parted with their arms 
while taking refreshment in a tavern. Fitz discovering their 
position boldly came in upon them, commanded them to keep their 
places, which command they dared not disobey. He then called 
for a glass of liquor, drank it, backed off with his rifle pointed 
towards the men, till he arrived at a safe distance to run. 

On one occasion, a meeting was held for the purpose of adopt- 
ing measures for his arrest, which he attended in disguise. After 
dark, a militia captain volunteered, with much boasting, to cap- 
ture Fitz, which being overheard by the bandit, he at once decided 
to put the bravery of the boaster to the test. Taking a candle- 
stick from the mantel, he invited the young man aside, remark- 
ing that he would show him how he might secure Fitz. When at 
some distance from the company, he demanded the watch of his 
victim, at the same time snapping the candlestick, and assuring 
him that he was Fitz. Obtaining possession of the watch, he 
tied the captain's hands behind him, and sent him back to the 
company. 

Fitz was at length captured by Capt. Robert McAffee, of 
Edgmont, assisted by a young woman named Rachel Walker. 
Having entered the dwelling of Mr. McAfi"ee, Rachel, who was 
up stairs, was made acquainted with his presence by the screams 
of a boy who said, " Capt. Fitz was there." Upon coming down 
stairs, Fitz asked her how she did, and expi'essed his sorrow at 
the disturbance he had made. She went up stairs to secrete 
some valuables, when Fitz drove the balance of the family, con- 
sisting of Capt. McAffee, his father and mother, and the above 
mentioned boy, up stairs also. He then proceeded to plunder 
the house. The manner of his capture is thus given by Rachel 
before the Council : " Fitz told McAffee to prepare for a march ; 
laid down his sword and pistol, and raising his foot to the bed- 
stead, in order to put up at the heels a pair of pumps taken from 
Capt. McAffee ; she winked at McAffee to seize Fitz ; he seemed 
to decline; she winked again, and on seeing McAffee's motion 
as if to seize Fitz, she also sprang forward and seized him." 
Fitz in the struggle, this heroine says, seized a pistol, "which 
she griped in his hand and prevented him from firing it ; that she 
afterwards took the pistol and stood sentry at the door." A 
reward of $1000 had been offered for the arrest of Fitzpatrick 
by the Executive Council, which was equally divided between 
Rachel and Capt. McAffee. 

Fitz was captured in the latter part of August, and was con- 



328 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1778. 

victed at Chester, upon his own confession, of burglary and lar- 
ceny, on the loth of September, and was sentenced to be hung. 
The time for his execution was fixed on the 26th of the same 
month ; but before the day arrived he nearly succeeded in mak- 
ing his escape, " having filed ofl" his irons, and got out of the 
dungeon." He was in consequence removed to Philadelphia for 
safe keeping, but succeeded twice in removing his handcuifs 
before the day of execution.^ It is not known that his accom- 
plice Dougherty was ever arrested. 

The American army having retired into winter quarters at the 
Valley Forge, and that of Gen. Howe being fortified within con- 
tracted lines in the city and liberties of Philadelphia, but little 
occurred within our limits during the winter, except repeated de- 
predations committed by foraging parties sent out by the enemy. 
While Gen. Potter remained in command of the militia stationed 
between the Schuylkill and Chester, the depredations of these 
parties were greatly restrained, but at his earnest request he was 
superseded by General Lacey in January, after which, the ope- 
rations of the militia appear to have been chiefly confined to the 
country between the Schuylkill and Delaware. 

There was an outpost of the Valley Forge encampment in 
Radnor, on the property now belonging to Tryon Lewis. About 
seven acres of heavy timber had been cleared, near the middle of 
a large tract of woodland, by the troops stationed here ; this was 
afterwards cultivated, and was well known in the neighborhood 
as "the camp field." Radnor Friends' meeting-house, which is 
more than half a mile distant from this camp ground, was occu- 
pied in connection with it, probably as officers' quarters, and for 
a hospital. The records of the Society show that they were 
deprived of the use of their meeting-house early in the year, 
"in consideration of its being occupied by soldiers," and that 
it required considerable repairs before it was put in a condition 
for holding a monthly meeting, which was not till near the mid- 
dle of 1780. 

It is probable that during the winter and spring, most of the 
scouting parties that served to restrain, in a measure, the forag- 
ing of the enemy within our limits, and at the same time to pre- 
vent disloyal farmers from carrying their produce to the city, 
were detached from the outpost at Radnor. The inhabitants of 
th^ townships on the Eastern margin of the County suffered 
severely while the enemy occupied Philadelphia, and numbers of 
the Whigs were captured and carried oiBF as prisoners. 

Notwithstanding the punishment of death was denounced 
against those who furnished aid and comfort to the enemy, still 
a large amount of marketing reached the British lines, and those 

1 Penna. Packet. Col. Rec. Penn. Archives. Hist. Chester County. 



1778.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 329 

engaged in its transportation, when captured by the American 
scouts, were rarely subjected to any other punishment than the 
forfeiture of their goods and the imposition of a fine. In default 
of the latter, a good whipping was sometimes substituted. In 
the townships nearest the city, even some of those who were not 
disposed to favor the enemy, engaged in this traffic ; for while 
persons at a distance had no temptation but British gold, these 
had no alternative but to carry their produce within the lines of 
the .enemy and receive its value, or have it taken without com- 
pensation. 

It is a singular circumstance, and one not easily accounted 
for, that such a bold and efficient officer as Gen. Wayne, and one 
so perfectly acquainted with the country west of the Schuylkill 
as he undoubtedly was, should not, at this particular juncture, 
have been assigned a position where his local knowledge would 
have been so valuable in defending the inhabitants of his native 
county from the aggressions of the enemy. But his comniand 
was encamped during nearly the whole winter and spring at 
Mount Joy, in Lancaster County, a point so distant that even 
the advice that his local knowledge would have enabled him to 
give, could not be made available.^ 

But our people were not subjected to the depredations of the 
enemy alone. The necessities of our army at the Valley Forge 
had become so great that Congress had authorized the Comman- 
der-in-chief to seize provisions for its use at any place within 
seventy miles of his headquarters. Washington reluctantly 
yielded to the overwhelming necessity that induced Congress to 
confer this unusual authority upon him ; but he did yield, and in 
order that the present year's crop should be made available for 
the pressing necessities of the army, he had, early in the winter, 
issued a proclamation enjoining and requiring all persons resi- 
ding within seventy miles of his head-quarters to thresh out one 
half of their grain by the first of February, and the other half 
by the first of March, under the penalty of having all that re- 
mained in sheaves after the last mentioned period seized by the 
Commissaries and Quartermasters of the army and paid for as 
straw? The necessities of the army were too great to await the 
times specified in the proclamation ; and the General was obliged 
to- keep parties of his troops threshing grain to prevent his sup- 
plies from failing. Certificates, were given for the property 

1 Gen. Wayne is said to have commanded a foraging expedition " with orders to seize 
every article proper for the use of the army within fifteen miles of the Delaware, and 
to destroy the forage on the islands between Philadelphia and Chester." — {Marshall's 
Life of Washington.) To the author this appears to be a mistake. 

2 It has been erroneously supposed by some that this proclamation for threshing 
was in order to procure straw for the use of the troops. The cry from the camp was 
incessant for food and clothing. 



330 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1778. 

taken for the American army, payable in Continental money, 
but unfortunately for the credit of the government, this cur- 
rency was never redeemed. The Friends generally refused to 
receive compensation for what was taken from them for war 
purposes.^ 

On the 10th, 11th and 12th days of December, 1779, Corn- 
wallis, with a detachment of the British army, made a sally from 
Philadelphia into Darby, Haverford and Radnor, and at that 
inclement season of the year stripped many families of all their 
provisions, their stock and provender, and many articles of 
household furniture. These outrages were premeditated ; were 
committed under the eye of the General and by his authority, 
and many of them were against persons who had never raised a 
hand against the home government. For unfeeling brutality 
they scarcely have a parallel in civilized warfare. 

Many of the Whigs were captured at this time, and many had 
been captured previously and carried to Philadelphia, where 
they were detained as prisoners till the enemy evacuated the 
city, but after that event the tables were turned ; for now the 
Tories, Avho had given aid and comfort to the enemy, or who 
were suspected of having done so, were seized and tried as trai- 
tors, their property confiscated, and a few were executed. No 
one who resided in what is now Delaware County suffered the 
extreme penalty of the law. 

The Commissioners of attainder for Chester County, ap- 
pointed in pursuance of an Act of Assembly, were William 
Evans, Thomas Cheyney, Patterson Bell and John Hannum. 
The number charged with having " knowingly and willingly aided 
and assisted the enemies of the State and of the United States 
of America, by having joined their armies at Philadelphia," who 
resided in what is now Delaware County, was about fifty, while 
only about forty persons were actually? attainted of treason.^ 

Several classes of the militia were called out in the year 1778, 
but many refused to turn out, and also refused to pay their fines. 
When the goods of these defaulters, such as horses, &c., were 
levied upon and sold, they would be frequently stolen from the 
purchaser, which rendered the collection of fines very difiicult. 

In 1777 but little tax was collected in this part of the country. 
The presence of the enemy rendered its collection very difiicult 
in some places, and the robberies committed by them made col- 
lections impossible in others. Many collectors refused to serve, 
and paid their fines during the period of the Revolution, but 

1 Some account was kept by the Friends of their losses by the contending armies. 
The author has only seen that kept by Haverford Monthly Meeting. The amount 
recorded against the Continental army is small, and was generally taken " for substi- 
tute money." 

2 Penna. Archives, x. 250. 



1778.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 331 

more particularly in the years 1777 and 1778. Two taxes 
appear to have been laid the latter year, but the Commissioners 
of Chester County reported to the Council on the 29th of May, 
that " they had not been able to get a return of property from 
near one third of the townships — the township assessors having 
refused or neglected to act," owing, as the Commissioners sup- 
posed, to the proximity of the enemy. The delinquents were 
fined, and writs issued to the Sheriff, but, for the same reason, 
these writs were not executed. The aggregate of the taxes laid 
upon the townships now included, or partly included, in Delaware 
County, amounted to £3059 18s. 4(^., but a large proportion of 
it was never collected, or if collected was received in certificates 
for articles that had been taken for the use of the army. 

In the minutes of a meeting of the County Commissioners, 
"held at the sign of the Ship in East Cain, jan^ y^ 5*'^ 1778," 
the following entry occurs : 

" The Board appointed Sketchley Morton, David Cloyd and 
the Clerk to remove the press and chest of books, papers &c 
from Chester to James McClellans in Sadsbury." 

The next meeting of the Board was held at the house of James 
McClellan on the 2(3th of the same month, when " the committee 
appointed to remove the records from Chester, reported that they 
had removed the same according to order & presented their bill 
of expense," &c. 

During the occupation of Philadelphia by the enemy, the 
armed galleys and other craft that escaped up the river were 
sunk by order of Gen. Washington to prevent them from being 
captured, but after the evacuation they were put afloat again, 
and some of them fitted up for active duty. Mud Island fort 
and Billingsport were both to be put in repair and to be re-occu- 
pied ; the former was to be supplied with two and the latter with 
four heavy guns. The Council employed Col. John Bull to 
direct the workmen and to complete the works, and agreed to 
pay him " three pounds per day and forage at Billingsport for 
one horse." 

The evacuation of Philadelphia by the British was the dawn 
of returning prosperity in this section of our country. Up to 
this time Pennsylvania had suffered more from the war than any 
other State ; more of her men had been captured or lost, and no 
district had been so thoroughly plundered as that which had 
been overrun by Gen. Howe, between the Head of Elk and 
Philadelphia. From this time till the end of the war, our people 
suffered no serious inconvenience beyond what was common all 
over the country. Troops were frequently called out, heavy 
taxes were laid, and wagons with teams were impressed into 
service ; but really the greatest amount of inconvenience suffered 



332 HISTOEY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1780. 

by the people generally, resulted from the great depreciation of 
the paper money authorized by Congress. Early in the^ year 
1779, it had depreciated so much that the price of every article 
had become almost fabulous, and yet it had not then reached its 
lowest point. A barrel of flour was sold for <£20, and a bushel 
of salt for X15; a journeyman blacksmith was paid <£8 per day, 
and the price for shoeing a horse all round was £i. 

The County Commissioners encountered very great difl&culties 
in levying taxes. The moderate fines that the law had imposed 
upon officers for neglect of duty when the currency was good, 
failed to secure the services of those whose duty it was to assess 
and collect the taxes. By a minute made by the Board of Com- 
missioners and County Assessors for Chester County, at a meeting 
held on the 18th of January, it appears that "from the greatest 
number of townships" no return of taxable property had been 
made. The assessment was consequently postponed till the 26th 
of April; the Commissioners in the meantime having borrowed 
money, and the legislature having enacted a law imposing fines 
on delinquent assessors and collectors more in accordance with 
the inflated character of the currency. 

Many of the small vessels composing the Pennsylvania fleet 
were sold; but still encouragement was given for fitting out pri- 
vateers. Garrisons were kept, both at Fort Mifilin and Billings- 
port, at the expense of the State; but the object appears to have 
been more for the prevention of smuggling, and to enforce the 
temporary embargoes that were from time to time laid, than to 
guard against any apprehended attack from the enemy. 

The crew of the brigantine Holker, to sail as a privateer, 
appears to have been enlisted at Chester by Capt. Davis Bevan, 
who probably commanded the vessel. Most of the enlistments 
were made in July, 1779, as appears by the receipt book of the 
captain, now in possession of the Delaware County Institute of 
Science. The bounty paid by Capt. Bevan for a single cruise 
was from $50 to $100, most probably Continental money. 

Before the close of the year 1779, Continental money had 
depreciated enormously. Commissioners appointed by the As- 
sembly to purchase provisions for the French fleet, in October, 
fixed the price of good merchantable Avheat at .£15 per bushel, 
and that of flour at £42 per ewt. The price of salt before the 
end of the year was .£80 per bushel. The rates of toll for cross- 
ing the floating bridge over the Schuylkill, at Market street, 
were, for a single person, 2s. Qd. ; for a horse, 5s. ; horse and 
chair, 22s. Qd. ; chariot or phaeton and pair, 87s. Qd., &c. 

In November, an act was passed by the Assembly for raising 
the sum of $2,500,000 monthly, during eight months, in the year 
1780, for the supply of the Treasury of the United States, and 



1780.] 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



333 



the Treasury of this State. In the County of Chester, the taxes 
of two and three months were assessed and collected at one time. 
The following is the copy of an assessment for two months, on 
the townships which now compose Delaware County, including 
the whole of Birmingham and Thornbury : — 



Aston, 






£ s. 

. 2,110 


Bethel, . 






. 1,484 6 


Birmingham, . 






4,123 14 


Chester, . 






5,600 2 


Chichester, Upper, . 






. 2,489 6 


" Lower, . 






3,386 


Concord, 






5,837 10 


Darby, Upper, 






4,943 2 


" Lower, 






3,395 12 


Edgmont, 






3,500 4 


Haver ford. 






2,910 14 


Marple, . 






3,393 4 


Middletown, 






5,221 


Newtown, 






3,792 16 


Providence, Upper, . 






1,922 14 


" Lower, . 






1,769 16 


Ridley, . 






6,458 10 


Radnor, . ■ . , 






3,698 18 


Springfield, 






2,503 12 


Thornbury, 






5,459 6 



Aggregate tax for two months, ,£74,003 6 
In connection with one of the taxes levied this year, there was 
a small money tax laid on the several townships, to be paid in 
coin. This tax bears no regular proportion to the tax in con- 
tinental paper laid upon the same townships, and no regularity is 
observed in the amounts laid upon difi"erent townships. The 
principle upon which it was laid is not understood. 

Many of the assessors and collectors appointed refused to 
enter upon the duties of their respective offices, notwithstanding 
the fine usually imposed was X500. It frequently became neces- 
sary to distrain in the collection of these enormous taxes, and 
where no goods could be found, the collectors did not hesitate to 
cut and sell timber to the amount of the tax. The minutes of 
the Commissioners record a case of oppression, by reason of too 
much timber being cut by an unscrupulous collector. 

Though the amount of these taxes was vastly greater in ap- 
pearance than in reality, still their collection operated very 
oppressively upon many, and in some cases led to a resistance 
against their forcible collection. In one instance, in Chester 



334 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1780. 

County, a collector named William Boyd, while discharging his 
duties was murdered by John and Robert Smith, probably bro- 
thers. Determined to make an example of the perpetrators of 
this outrage, the council at once offered a reward of $20,000 for 
their apprehension. They were shortly afterwards arrested, had 
their trial at Chester on the 26th of June, and being convicted 
were sentenced to be hung. It rested with the Council to fix the 
day of execution. The matter was brought before that body on 
the 30th of June, when the sentence of the Court was ordered to 
be carried out on Saturday the first of July, being the next day. 
The murder occurred about the 12th of May. 

To persons who had been plundered by the enemy and who 
had paid their taxes, small amounts were paid upon orders 
granted by the Commissioners from time to time. Many of 
these orders appear on the books of the Commissioners, but how 
the amount payable to each person was estimated, does not 
appear. 

The Continental money had depreciated so much before the 
middle of 1780 that X2400 were paid for six head of cattle, and 
<£700 for twenty head of sheep. 

The year 1780 is memorable in the annals of Pennsylvania 
for the passage of the act for the gradual abolition of slavery in 
this State. This act, which was passed on the first of March, 
provided for the registration of every negro or mulatto slave or 
servant for life or till the age of thirty-one years, before the 
first of November following, and also provided " that no man or 
woman of any nation or color, except, the Negroes or Mulattoes 
who shall be registered as aforesaid, shall at any time hereafter 
be deemed, adjudged or holden within the territories of this Com- 
monwealth, as slaves or servants for life, but as free men and 
free women." The servants of members of Congress, foreign 
ministers, and persons passing through or sojourning not longer 
than six months were also made an exception. 

The registry for the County of Chester, in pursuance of 
the provisions of this act, was carefully made, and is now 
kept in the office of the Clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions 
at West Chester. The name, age and time of service of each 
negro or mulatto, and also the name of the owner and township 
in which he or she resided are given. The following list, made 
out from this registry, shows the number of slaves registered in 
the several townships now constituting Delaware County : 



1780.] 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



335 



Aston, 

Bethel, 

Birminghain, 

Chester, 

Chichester (Upper), 

Chichester (Lower), 

Concord, 

Darby (Upper), 

Darby, 

Edgmont, 

Haverford, . 

Marple, 

Middletown, 

Newtown, 

Providence (Upper). 

Providence (Lower), 

Ridley, 

Radnor, 

Springfield, 

Thornbury, 

Tinicum, 



Slaves 


For a term 


for life. 


of years. 


13 


1 














16 


1 








12 


1 


T 





2 





2 





5 ■ 





24 


2 


2 





7 


1 


1 

















34 


3 








10 


5 


3 





8 


2 



146 



16 



In the remaining townships of Chester County there were 
registered 816 negro and mulatto slaves for life and nine for a 
term of years. ^ 

It must not be supposed that no greater number of slaves for 
life than 146 had been owned in Delaware County. The Qua- 
kers a short time before, had liberated all their slaves, and some 
other persons, not members of that Society, had followed their 
example. But few slaves advanced in years were registered, 
and it cannot be supposed that masters would register such as 
they intended to emancipate. Of the 162 registered, 100 
were minors. 

The records of some of the meetings of the Society of Friends 
are imperfect in respect to the number of slaves manumitted ; 
but judging from such records as came under his notice and 
from other facts within his knowledge, the author has arrived at 
the conclusion that the number of slaves held within the limits 
now comprising Delaware County, at the breaking out of the 
Revolution, was not less than 300. 

1 A farmer in East Nottingham registered " an Indian Girl named Sarah, aged 24 
years, a slave for life," and also an Indian servant man till he arrived at the age of 
31 years. 



336 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1780. 

The county records do not appear to have been returned to 
Chester for some time after the enemy left these parts. On the 
30th of June the Commissioners of Chester County granted an 
order on the Treasurer to pay Thomas Taylor, Esq., ^135 "for 
hauling the records belonging to the Register's and Recorder's 
oiEce, from Westown to John Jacobs, thence to Joseph Parker's 
Esq, and from thence to Westown again." 

The rapid diminution in value of the Continental money is 
elucidated by the two following orders granted by the County 
Commissioners : 

Sept. 3d, 1779. " Ordered that the Treasurer pay to Joshua 
Vaughan Gaoler £1663 3s. 2d. for the repairs of the Gaol and 
court house, maintaining State prisoners &c." 

Nov. 18th, 1780. " Ordered the Treasurer to pay Joshua 
Vaughan £3127, it being in lieu of a pay order granted Sept. 
3rd 1779 for X1663 3s." 

Notwithstanding the great extent of Chester County, its seat 
of justice had continuously remained, since the establishment of 
Penn's government in 1681, at the town of Chester, on its south- 
eastern border. An effort was now made to secure its removal 
to a more central situation, and the fact that this eifort was 
made during the continuance of the war, and before the people 
had recovered from the depredations committed by the enemy, 
"is conclusive evidence that those of the remote parts of the 
county were keenly alive to the injustice they suffered from the 
location of their seat of justice. 

This early removal effort resulted in the passage of an Act of 
Assembly " to enable William Clingan, Thomas Bull, John 
Kinkead, Roger Kirk, John Sellers, John Wilson and Joseph 
Davis, to build a new court-house and prison in the County of 
Chester, and to sell the old court-house in the borough of Ches- 
ter." These gentlemen, or any four of them, were authorized 
by the terms of the act to purchase a piece of land, " situate in 
some convenient place of the county," and to build or cause to 
be built a court-house and prison thereon. The act contains no 
restriction in regard to the location of the new seat of justice, 
beyond a strong expression in the preamble against the inconve- 
nience of its present location ; nor was any time specified within 
which the Commissioners should purchase and build. 

A majority of these gentlemen were probably opposed to a 
removal of the county seat, and did not enter upon their duties 
with much energy. They, however, took the first step in the 
business, by purchasing a lot of land in the township of East 
Cain for the accommodation of the buildings. The Commis- 
sioners had a wide discretion, which they may have abused, or 
they may have been discouraged from proceeding fui^ther by 



1781.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 337 

objections urged against the site they had selected. Certain it 
is, that this site was not the favorite one of some of the most 
active removalists. From some cause the matter was dehiyed 
till the year 1784. When that period in our narrative is reached 
the subject will be resumed. 

As the township of Tinicum has become an institution in our 
Commonwealth of some note, about election times, it may not be 
amiss to explain the manner in which the island acquired an 
independent municipal existence. 

On the last Tuesday of May, 1780, a petition was presented 
to the Justices of the Court of Quarter Sessions, at Chester, 
signed by " the inhabitants, owners and occupiers of land in the 
Island of Tinicum," setting forth : " That the inhabitants of the 
Island aforesaid, as a part of the township of Ridley, have here- 
tofore paid a great part of the tax for the support of the roads 
in said township, and also maintained and supported the roads 
on the Island at their own cost and charge, without the least 
assistance from the other part of the township : And whereas 
the dams on said Island made for the purpose of preventing the 
tides from overflowing the meadows belonging to your petitioners, 
were in the year 1777 cut and destroyed with a view of retard- 
ing the progress of the enemy at that time invading this State, 
whereby the roads on said Island were greatly damaged, to the 
very great prejudice of your petitioners, and as it is not in our 
power to derive any assistance from the inhabitants of the other 
part of the township, we conceive it to be a hardship to be 
obliged to support their roads." 

The petitioners, twenty-three in number, then go on to request 
the Court " to divide the Island of Tinicum from the township 
of Ridley, and make a distinct township of it,'' with power to 
choose officers, raise taxes, &c., &c. 

The petition was laid over till the August Court, when, on the 
31st of that month, the new township was '■'•allowed.'' Since 
that time the people of the Island have exercised all the privi- 
leges belonging to the inhabitants of an independent township, 
except the election of constable, the number of resident eligible 
freeholders being too few to fill that office regularly, without 
compelling the same person to serve the office more than once in 
fifteen years. 

On the first of February, 1781, Council fixed the rate of Con- 
tinental money at $75 for one dollar of specie; and on the 15th 
of May ordered that, after the 1st of June following, nothing but 
specie or its equivalent paper should be received for taxes. This 
brought about a great change in public aff"airs throughout the 
country. Taxes that had been assessed in thousands of pounds, 
22 



S38 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1782. 

now scarcely reached hundreds ;^ but the people, though appa- 
rently relieved from heavy impositions, found even greater 
difficulty in meeting the demands of the tax collector than be- 
fore, so great was the scarcity of the precious metals. 

The money orders of Council now generally directed payment 
to be made in specie, or in paper issued by the State, provision for 
the redemption of which had been made. Province Island, which 
belonged to the State up to this period, was divided into lots and 
sold, the proceeds of the sale being appropriated for the redemp- 
tion in part of this paper. 

But little property was confiscated within the limits of Dela- 
ware County. - The largest portion was on Tinicum and Hog 
Islands, the property of Joseph Galloway, who was never a resi- 
dent of the county. 

On the 8th of April, 1782, near the entrance of the Delaware 
bay, the remarkable action took place betwef n the Pennsylvania 
ship Hyder Ali, commanded by Captain Barney, mounting six- 
teen six-pounders, and carrying one hundred and ten men, and 
the British ship Cfeneral Monk, mounting twenty nine-pounders, 
and carrying one hundred and thirty-six men. The Hyder Ali 
had sailed down the Delaware as a convoy to several merchant 
vessels. Upon approaching the Capes, Capt. Barney discovered 
a frigate and other vessels of the enemy inside of the Capes, 
whereupon he signalled the merchantmen to return. In order 
to prevent a successful pursuit by the enemy's ships, he deter- 
mined to occupy their attention for a time. The frigate not 
being able to reach the position of the Hyder Ali, she was im- 
mediately engaged by the G-eneral Monk, at close quarters. 
Capt. Barney, by a ruse de guerre, in giving an order in a loud 
voice, so as to be heard by the enemy, but which, by a private 
understanding with the helmsman, was to be construed differ- 
ently, acquired for his ship a raking position, which soon gave 
him the victory. Another ruse was necessary to avoid pursuit 
by the frigate. The British flag was again run up on the Monk, 
while that of the Hyder Ali was struck, giving the appearance 
of a British victory, while both vessels followed, as if in hot 
pursuit of the defenceless merchantmen. Capt. Barney did not 
know the extent of his victory till he was out of reach of danger, 
when he ascertained that the loss of the enemy was twenty killed 
and thirty-three wounded ; the first lieutenant, purser, surgeon, 
boatswain, and gunner being among the former, and Capt. Jack- 
son, the commander, among the latter. In his trip up the Dela- 
ware he captured a refugee schooner called the "Hook 'em 
Snivey." 

1 In 1780-81, two poor-taxes in Chester township amounted to £4,156 16s. Conti- 
nental money, while the next tax was £55 198. Zd. in ■' good money." — Township Book. 



1783.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 339 

Capt. Barney left his own ship at Chester, and proceeded in 
his prize to Philadelphia with the wounded and prisoners, Capt. 
Jackson being placed in the family of a Quaker lady, who nursed 
him like a sister until he had recovered from his wounds.^ 

On the 15th of April, 1783, a cessation of hostilities was 
proclaimed by the Council, but a definite treaty of peace was 
not concluded till the 30th of November. 

Up to the commencement of the Revolutionary War, the So- 
ciety of Friends had maintained a controlling influence over 
public aifairs in Pennsylvania. In the controversy with the 
British Government, which preceded the breaking out of hostili- 
ties, many members of the Society warmly espoused the Ame- 
rican side of the question. An armed resistance against the 
tyrannical measures of the mother country had but few advocates 
in the beginning, and the idea of an independent government had 
scarcely gained an ascendency among the people of Pennsylvania, 
when the Declaration was made. The Society of Friends hav- 
ing ever maintained a testimony against war and bloodshed, it 
was not to be supposed that its members would advocate a policy, 
(then a doubtful one,) certain to produce this result. 

When it became necessary to resort to "carnal weapons," the 
Quakers, who had before been active, withdrew from the contro- 
versy, and a very large majority of the Society assumed and 
maintained a position of passive neutrality throughout the war. 
Still there was a considerable number who openly advocated a 
resort to arms. Even within the limits of this little County, one 
hundred and ten young men were disowned by the Society for 
having entered the military service in defence of their country.^ 
Doubtless the Society furnished its proportion of Tories, but the 
number was greatly exaggerated at the time by those unacquaint- 
ed with Quakerism. Such persons construed their testimonies 
against war, and their dealings with members who participated in 
it, as indirectly favoring the enemy. Their refusal to pay taxes 
exclusively levied for war purposes, was especially viewed in this 
light. 

It has not been discovered that more than two Quakers resid- 
ing within the limits of Delaware County joined the British 
army. This small number, contrasted with the large number 
who entered the American service, may serve to indicate gene- 
rally the direction of the latent sympathy of the members of the 
Society who remained faithful to their ancient testimonies. Be- 
sides those who entered the military service, there were many 
members of the Society who openly lent their aid to the Ame- 
rican cause. 

1 Life of Com. Barney, as quoted in Haz. Reg. x. 132. 

2 Records of the several monthly meetings. 



340 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1784. 

The minutes of the meetings in this County, throughout the 
whole course of the war, abundantly show that, as a Society, 
the Quakers were perfectly passive. If they dealt with and 
excommunicated those of their members who engaged in mili- 
tary affairs, they were equally strict and impartial m the treat- 
ment of other offences against their discipline. Those members 
who continued to hold slaves received an unusual share of atten- 
tion during the war, and such as did not promptly emancipate 
them were disowned. The use or sale of intoxicating drinks, 
the distillation of grain, being concerned in lotteries, and indeed 
almost every species of vice, received a greater share of atten- 
tion during the war than at any former period. 

Even Gen. Washington at one time harbored the unjust sus- 
picion that flans " of the most pernicious tendency were settled" 
at the general meetings of the Quakers; and while the British 
occupied Philadelphia, issued orders to prevent the country 
members from attending their yearly meeting, on that ground. 
These orders required their horses, if fit for service, to be taken 
from them ; but Gen. Lacey, to whom the orders were issued, in 
hi;s turn gave orders to his horsemen " to fire into those who 
refused to stop when hailed, and leave their dead bodies lying in 
the road."^ In a military point of view it may have been very 
proper to prevent all intercourse with Philadelphia at the time, 
but the idea that the Quakers would originate any treasonable 
plot at their yearly meeting was utterly groundless. 

After lying dormant for four years, the removal question was 
again revived by the passage of a Supplement to the original 
Act. By this Act the names of John Ilannum, Isaac Taylor, and 
John Jacobs, were substituted in place of the original Commis- 
sioners, and they were endowed with the same authority, except 
that they had no power to erect the new Court-house and prison 
" at a greater distance than one mile and a half from the Turk's 
Head tavern, in the township of Goshen, and to the west or 
south-west of said Turk's Head tavern, and on or near the 
straight line from the ferry, called the Corporation Ferry, on 
the Schuylkill, to the village of Strasburg." This restricting 
clause is said to have been introduced at the instance of Mr. 
Hannum, the first named Commissioner, who was then a member 
of the Legislature, under the belief that the restriction would 
include his lands on the Brandywine ; and as these lands were 
near the "straight line" from the ferry to Strasburg, they 
would present a strong claim to be selected as the site of the 
new county town. Actual measurement excluded Col. Han- 
num's land from competition, and the Commissioners, who were 
all active removalists, at once contracted for a tract of land near 
the Turk's Head tavern, and commenced the buildings. 

^ Principles and Acts of the Revolution, 334. 



1785.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 341 

"But the walls were scarcely erected, when the winter set in, 
and suspended the operations of the workmen, and before the sea- 
son permitted them to re-commence building, the law authorizing 
the Commissioners to build was repealed. This new Act of the 
Legislature, procured, as is thought, by the influence of some of 
the members from the southern section of the county, was passed 
on the 30th of March 1785. The people generally in the neigh- 
borhood of Chester, had been violently opposed from the begin- 
ning to the projected removal, and a number now resolved to 
demolish the walls already erected. Accordingly a company 
assembled, armed and accoutred, and having procured a field- 
piece, appointed Major Harper commander, and proceeded to 
accomplish their design. A few days before this expedition left 
Chester, notice of its object was communicated by some of the 
leaders to the neighborhood of the Turk's Head, and prepara- 
tions were immediately made for its reception. In this busi- 
ness Col. Hannum was particularly active. He directly re- 
quested Col. Isaac Taylor and Mr. Marshall to bring in what 
men they could collect, and began himself to procure arms and 
prepare cartridges. Grog and rations were freely distributed, 
and a pretty respectable force was soon upon the ground. The 
windows of the court-house were boarded upon each side, and 
the space between filled with stones ; loop-holes being left for 
the musquetry. Each man had his station assigned him ; Mar- 
shall and Taylor commanded in the upper story — Underwood 
and Patton below, while Col. Hannum had the direction of the 
whole. All things were arranged for a stout resistance. 

" The non-removalists having passed the night at the Green 
Tree, made their appearance near the Turk's Head early in the 
morning, and took their ground about 200 yards south-east of 
the Quaker meeting house. Here they planted their cannon and 
made preparations for the attack. They seemed, however, when 
every thing was ready, still reluctant to proceed to extremities ; 
and having remained several hours in a hostile position, an ac- 
commodation was effected between the parties, by the interven- 
tion of some pacific people, who used their endeavors to prevent 
the effusion of blood. To the non-removalists was conceded the 
liberty of inspecting the defences that had been prepared by 
their opponents, on condition that they should do them no in- 
jury ; and they on their part agreed to abandon their design, 
and to return peaceably to their homes. The cannon which had 
been pointed against the walls was turned in another direction, 
and fired in celebration of the treaty. Col. Hannum then 
directed his men to leave the court-house, and having formed in 
a line a short distance on the right, to ground their arms and 
wait till the other party should have finished their visit to the 



342 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1786. 

building. Here an act of indiscretion had nearly brought on a 
renewal of hostilities. For one of Major Harper's men baring 
entered the fort^ struck down the flag which their opponents had 
raised upon the walls. Highly incensed at this treatment of their 
standard, the removalists snatched up their arms, and were with 
difficulty prevented from firing upon the Major and bis com- 
panions. Some exertion, however, on the part of the leaders, 
allayed the irritation of the men, and the parties at length 
separated amicably without loss of life or limb." 

The foregoing account of this almost-a-battle, is extracted 
from the History of Chester County, by Joseph J. Lewis, Esq., 
published in the Village Record, in the year 1824. It has come 
to the author traditionally, that the attack of the Chester people 
was instigated by the removalists proceeding with the buildings 
after the passage of the Suspension Act, and that a promise to 
desist from the work was a prominent article in the treaty of 
peace — a promise that was only kept while the attacking party 
remained in sight and hearing. The attempt by the non-removal 
party to batter down the unfinished buildings, was a high-handed 
outrage which rendered those engaged in it amenable to the laws. 
The fact that they were allowed to escape with impunity is rather 
corroborative of the idea that the attack was not altogether un- 
provoked, and renders it probable that the cause for it assigned 
by tradition is the true one. 

The Suspension Act had probably been procured by misrepre- 
sentation, or in some underhand manner. The representation 
" that a general dissatisfaction and uneasiness did prevail and 
subsist among the greater part of the good people of the County 
of Chester" with the intended removal of the seat of justice 
"from Chester to the Turks Head in Goshen township," as con- 
tained in the preamble to that act, was doubtless untrue. At 
all events, at the next session of the Legislature, the removalists 
were enabled to show " that a great part of the good people of 
said County were much dissatisfied with the courts of justice re- 
maining at the borough of Chester, and readily obtained an act 
to repeal the suspending act. The title of this act, which was 
passed on the 18th of March, 1786, is remarkable for its phrase- 
ology. It commences thus : " An act to repeal an act, entitled 
An act to suspend an act of General Assembly of this Common- 
wealth, entitled A supplement to an act entitled An act to en- 
able William Clingan, Thomas Bull, &c." By this act the vexed 
question was finally settled, though its passage was not effected 
without the most spirited and bitter opposition. It may not be 
amiss to let the good people of West Chester know in what estima- 
tion the site of their town was then held by the non-removalists. 
In one of the missiles addressed to the Legislature, it is de- 



1T89.] HISTOKY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 343 

scribed as " that elegant and notorious place vulgarly called the 
Turk's Read, (by some called West-Chester) a place as unfit 
for the general convenience, and much more so, than any one 
spot that might be pointed out within 10 miles square of the above 
described place — (except towards the New Castle line)."^ 

The removalists became jubilant over their long delayed vic- 
tory, and gave vent to their feelings in sundry songs and ditties, 
couched in language not the most tender towards the vanquished 
party. One of these, entitled '■^Chester's Mother," has been 
preserved in the Directory of West Chester for 1857. 

On the 25th of September, 1786, an act was passed " to em- 
power the Sheriff of the County of Chester to remove the pri- 
soners from the old gaol, in the town of Chester, to the new 
gaol in Goshen township, in said county, and to indemnify him 
for the same." 

The first removal act authorized the sale of the old Court- 
house and jail at Chester upon the completion of the new build- 
ings at the Turk's Head, but this sale was not consummated till 
the 18th of March, 1788, when William Kerlin became the pur- 
chaser of the property. 

The first Court held in the new Court-house commenced on the 
28th of November, 1786, before William Clingan, William Has- 
let, John Bartholomew, Philip Scot, Isaac Taylor John Ralston, 
Joseph Luckey, Thomas Cheyney, Thomas Levis, and Richard 
Hill Morris as Justices. 

In 1783 an agreement was entered into between Pennsylvania 
and New Jersey, in respect to the jurisdiction of the river De- 
laware- and its islands. In 1786 an act was passed distributing 
the islands assigned to Pennsylvania among the several counties 
bordering on the river. Up to this time the jurisdiction over 
Hog Island was doubtful, but it had been exercised by Philadel- 
phia County, By this act, that Island was permanently annex- 
ed to Chester County, and attached to Tinicum township. 

The people of the borough of Chester and vicinity, who had 
been deaf to the complaints of the inhabitants of the remote 
parts of the County, on account of their distance from the seat 
of justice, and who had for years strenuously opposed granting 
them any relief, were not slow to learn from experience that 
those complaints had not been wholly groundless, though their 
distance from the new seat of justice did not compare with the 
distance of most of the removalists from the old one. The peo- 
ple of the southeastern section of the County had been favored 
in fixing upon the Turk's Head as the site of the new seat of 
justice, for several other parts of the County were still much 
more remote from that place. " The inhabitants of the borough 

1 MS. in possession of the Del. Co. Institute, in the handwriting of Davis Bevan. 



344 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1789. 

of Chester and the south-eastern parts of the County," however, 
became restive under their new relation to the seat of justice, 
and by their petitions, " set forth to the General Assembly that 
they labored under many and great inconveniences, from the seat 
of justice being removed to a great distance from them," and 
prayed that they might be relieved from the said inconveniences, 
" by erecting the said borough and south-eastern parts of said 
county into a separate county." 

Unfortunately for the pecuniary interests of a large majority of 
the inhabitants of the part of the County mentioned, the Assem- 
bly regarded their petition as "just and reasonable," and by an 
act passed on the 26th of September, 1789, authorized a division 
of the County of Chester, and the erection of a part thereof 
"into a new County," The first section of this act provides 
that all that part of Chester County lying within the bounds and 
limits thereinafter mentioned, shall be erected into a separate 
County : " Beginning in the middle of Brandywine river, where 
the same crosses the circular line of New Castle County, thence 
up the middle of the said river to the line dividing the lands of 
Elizabeth Chads and Caleb Brinton, at or near the ford com- 
monly called or known by the name of Chad's ford, and from 
thence, on a line as nearly strait as may be, so as not to split or 
divide plantations, to the great road leading from Goshen to 
Chester, where the Westown line intersects or crosses said road, 
and from thence along the lines of Edgemont, Newtown and Rad- 
nor, so as to include those townships, to the line of Montgomery 
County, and along the same and the Philadelphia County line 
to the river Delaware, and down the same to the circular line 
iaforesaid, and along the same to the place of beginning, to be 
henceforth known and called by the name of Delaware County." 

By this act the townships of Birmingham and Thornbury were 
divided; but provision was made, that the parts falling in each 
county should each constitute an independent township, and 
each new township should retain the name of the original town- 
ship from which it was taken. 

The petitioners for the new county, to make things sure, had 
contracted in advance with Mr. Kerlin, the owner of the old 
court-house and prison, for the purchase thereof, " at a price far 
beneath what such buildings could be erected for, which they 
were willing and desirous should be conveyed for the use of the 
[new] county, on repayment of the sum agreed upon." Henry 
Hale Graham, Richard Reiley, Josiah Lewis, Edward Jones, and 
Benjamin Brannin, or any three of them, were constituted trustees 
by the act, to take assurances and conveyances of the property, 
"for the use of the inhabitants." A conveyance of the old 
building with the appurtenant grounds was accordingly executed 



1789.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 345 

on the 3d of November following, when at the same time a de- 
claration of trust was executed by the gentlemen above named. 
The price paid by the County for the property was ,£693 Ss. Sd. 

By the same act, John Sellers, Thomas Tucker and Charles 
Dilworth, or any two of them, were appointed Commissioners, 
" to run and mark the line dividing the counties of Chester and 
Delaware," in the manner before mentioned. A draft in posses- 
sion of the author, doubtless prepared from the surveys made by 
the Commissioners, presents several interesting facts which it 
may not be amiss to notice. 

A straight line was run from the starting point on the Brandy- 
wine to the intersection of the Goshen road by the Western line, 
which is six miles i;hree quarters and fifty-four perches in length ; 
whereas the crooked line, between the same points, passing along 
the boundaries of the farms, cut by the straight line, and now 
forming the division line between the two counties, has a length 
of eleven miles one quarter and nineteen perches. On a line 
perpendicular to the above mentioned straight line, the court- 
house at West Chester is only three miles three quarters and 
fifty-eight perches distant. The bearing of this perpendicular 
line is N. 46° W. 

It is charged, in a note on the draft, that a member of the 
Legislature, while the act for a division of the County was under 
consideration, asserted that no part of the straight line run by 
the Commissioners " would come nearer West Chester than six 
miles." 

The court-house at West Chester lies nearly due north from 
the commencement of the division line on the Brandywine, and 
is a little over five miles distant from that point; whereas it was 
alleged at the session of the Legislature at which the act was 
passed, that the distance was nine miles. 

From the intersection of the Goshen road and the county line 
to West Chester, the distance in a direct line is four miles three 
quarters and sixty perches nearly, and the course N. 85° W. 
The shortest distance from the street road to West Chester is 
935 perches. 

It also appears from the draft that another division line had 
been proposed." This commenced at the mouth of Davis's or 
Harvey's run on the Brandywine, and ran so as to include the 
whole of Thornbury township in Chester County. 

The average gain to the whole people of the new county, in 
the way of convenience in reaching their seat of justice, did not 
exceed four miles; and when it is considered that the whole 
population of the new county at that time (1790) was only 9,483, 
and many of the land-holders really poor, in consequence of the 
war and the exhausting system of agriculture that had been 



346 HiSTOEY or Delaware county. [1791. 

pursued, it is truly wonderful that our ancestors ever consented 
to this division, which necessarily subjected them to all the in- 
creased municipal burdens incident to a small county. 

The first election for the County of Delaware w^as.held at the 
usual time in October, 1789, when Nicholas Fairlamb was duly 
elected Sheriff, and Jonathan Vernon, Coroner. On the 12th of 
October, John Pearson, Thomas Levis, Richard Hill Morris, and 
George Pearce, were duly commissioned, by the President and 
Council, Justices of the Court of Common Pleas of the same 
county. The appointment of a President of the Court was de- 
layed till the 7th of November, when the position was una- 
nimously conferred upon Henry Hale Graham. It was soon 
discovered, however, that the appointment of Mr. Graham was 
illegal, as he did not then hold a commission of Justice of the 
Peace; whereupon, the President and Council "revoked and 
made null and void" the commission they had granted to him, 
commissioned him a Justice of the Peace, and then appointed 
him President of the several Courts of the new county. 

The first Court for the County of Delaware was held February 
9th, 1790. No Orphans' Court business appears to have been 
transacted till March 2d, following. 

On the 2d of September, 1790, a new constitution was adopted 
for Pennsylvania. John Sellers and Nathaniel Newlin repre- 
sented Delaware County in the Convention, by which that most 
important document was framed. Under this constitution. Jus- 
tices of the Peace ceased to sit as Judges of the Courts. The 
courts were about this time organized as they now are, with a 
President and two Associate Judges. 

On the 9th of April, 1792, an act was passed to incorporate 
the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road Company. The 
work of making the road was immediately commenced, but was 
not completed till 1794. It cost |465,000, or about $7,516 per 
mile. This important road passes only about four miles through 
Delaware County. It was the first turnpike road constructed in 
America.^ 

The making of this turnpike seems to have inspired the people 
along the Brandywine with the idea that an easier and cheaper 
mode of transportation for their produce, and for that brought 
along the road, to tide water, would be found in a canal and lock na- 
vigation by that stream. Accordingly an act was passed in 1793, 
concurrent with one passed by the Legislature of Delaware, author- 

1 When the books were opened for subscription to the stock of this turnpike, so great 
was the anxiety of the people to obtain stock, that the Commissioners were obliged to 
close the doors and windows against the crowd that pressed upon them. The appli- 
cants were obliged to have recourse to lots to determine who should subscribe first. — 
Hist. Chester Go. 



1794.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 347 

izing a Company to be incorporated, with authority to make this 
improvement. The navigation was to extend up each branch of 
the Brandywine to the point where it is intersected by the Lan- 
caster turnpike road. It is believed that no part of this improve- 
ment was ever made. 

For some years past the different meetings of the Society of 
Friends have had the subject of schools for the more careful and 
guarded education of their youth, under very serious considera- 
tion. From the extreme difficulty of finding suitable teachers, 
the progress made in the establishment of these schools was 
at first slow, but up to this period several had been estab- 
lished on a proper basis. Each monthly meeting had a com- 
mittee specially appointed on the subject, who from time to time 
reported upon the condition of the schools under their charge. 
As early as 1788, Concord Meeting had three schools, and not- 
withstanding the difficulty of the times, the committee express 
the belief that there were no Friends' children amongst them 
"■ but what received a sufficiency of learning to fit them in a good 
degree for the business they are designed for." Three schools 
had also been established within the limits of Chester Monthly 
Meeting — one at Darby, one at Haverford, and one at Radnor. 
These schools, though established for the benefit of Friends' 
children, were open to those of every denomination, and being 
the best then established, were generally well patronized by 
them. By the constant care bestowed upon these schools, they 
were greatly improved in after years, so that at the time of the 
establishment of our general system of education by common 
schools, several of them were in such excellent condition that 
it was reasonably doubted whether any benefit would result 
from the change. 

The proper education of the colored population also claimed 
a share of the attention of the Society. Many had been re- 
cently set free, and their helpless condition presented a very 
strong claim upon those who had been foremost in the work of 
emancipation. 

In early times the general election for the whole county of 
Chester, was held at the Court-house in Chester. Before the 
Revolution, Chester County was divided into three election dis- 
tricts, called Chester, Chatham, and Med Lion — the places at 
which the election was held. Chester district embraced nearly 
the same territory that is now included in Delaware County. 
After the division, the people of the whole county continued to 
vote at Chester till 1794, when an Act was passed dividing the 
County of Delaware into four election districts. This Act con- 
stituted the townships of Concord, Birmingham, Thornbury, 
Aston, Bethel, and Upper Chichester, the second election dis- 



348 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1795. 

trict — the election to be held at the house of Joshua Vernon, 
in Concord; the townships of Newtown, Edgmont, Upper Provi- 
dence, Marple, and Radnor, the third election district — the 
election to be held at the house then occupied by William Beau- 
mont, in Newtown ; and the townships of Darby, Upper Darby, 
Haverford, Springfield, and Tinicum, the fourth election dis- 
trict — the election to be held at the house then occupied by 
Samuel Smith, in Darby. The people of the remaining town- 
ships still held their election at Chester, and those townships 
composed the first district. 

It was during the year 1794 that the general government 
was under the necessity of organizing a military force to quell 
a rebellion in the western part of Pennsylvania, known as the 
"Whiskey Insurrection." This county furnished one company, 
which was commanded by Capt. William Graham.^ 

The class of laborers known as redemptioners, and who con- 
sisted of Dutch and Irish immigrants, who were sold for a term of 
years to pay their passage, were much employed about this time. 
So much were these servants in demand at one period, that 
persons engaged in the traffic as a business, who would buy 
a lot on shipboard, and take them among the farmers for retail. 
But some of these dealers, who were usually denominated " soul 
drivers,'" would go themselves to Europe, collect a drove, 
bring them to this country, and retail them here on the best 
terms they could procure — thus avoiding the intervention of the 
wholesale dealer. One of this class of drivers, named McCulloch, 
transacted business in Chester County about the time of the 
division. A story is told of him being tricked by one of his 
redemptioners in this wise : " The fellow, by a little manage- 
ment, contrived to be the last of the flock that remained unsold, 
and traveled about with his owner without companions. One 
night they lodged at a tavern, and in the morning, the young 
fellow, who was an Irishman, rose early and sold his master to 
the landlord, pocketed the money, and marched off. Previously, 
however, to his going, he used the precaution to tell the pur- 
chaser, that his servant, although tolerably clever in other re- 
spects, was rather saucy and a little given to lying — that he had 
even presumption enough at times to endeavor to pass for master, 
and that he might possibly represent himself so to him. By 
the time mine host was undeceived, the son of Erin had gained 
such a start as rendered pursuit hopeless."^ 

In the winter of 1795, a great ice freshet occurred in the 
streams of this County, doing considerable damage. The creeks 
were raised to a greater height than at any previous flood within 
the recollection of the oldest inhabitants ; and yet this freshet 

1 Directory of Chester. ^ jjist. Chester County. 



1803.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 349 

was one foot less in height than the ice freshet of 1839, and 
eight feet three inches below the great flood of 1843, as accu- 
rately measured at Sharpless' Mills, on Ridley Creek. 

The use of intoxicating drinks, and consequently drunken- 
ness, was probably increased by the Revolution. Certain it is, 
that the Quakers, the moral reformers of the age, about that 
period, set about the discouragement of the manufacture, sale, 
or use of these drinks by their members, in a spirit of earnest- 
ness not before exhibited. For a long time their success was 
only partial. A belief prevailed that severe labor, particularly 
that of harvest, could not be performed without the use of 
stimulating drinks, but even at this early day, "many Friends 
had declined using thereof in harvest." That practice was not, 
however, generally laid aside, and was continued for many years 
afterwards ; yet members of the Society refrained from the dis- 
tillation or sale of spirituous liquors. 

In 1797, subscriptions for the establishment of a boarding- 
school, to be under the care of the yearly meeting, were circu- 
lated among the several monthly meetings of this County, by 
committees appointed for that purpose. Liberal subscriptions 
were made ; and the result of the undertaking was the purchase 
of a tract of 600 acres of land in Westown township, Chester 
County, and the erection of a building 55 by 110 feet, four 
stories high, including the basement, at a cost of |22,500. The 
first pupils were admitted in the 5th month, 1799. The main 
building was subsequently enlarged, and many other improve- 
ments have been made to the premises since that time. Westown 
school is not within the limits of our County, but many of our 
people of both sexes have been educated there. Since the 
division of the Society of Friends, the school has been exclu- 
sively under the management of that branch of it termed 
Orthodox. 

The burden of supporting the bridges over our numerous 
streams, and particularly those on the Southern Post-road be- 
came too great for our small County to bear. As a means of 
relief, an act of Assembly was procured in 1799, authorizing 
the Commissioners to erect toll-gates' on that road, and to col- 
lect toll from persons traveling thereon. The rates of toll au- 
thorized for passing over the road were, for a stage-coach or 
pleasure carriage with four wheels and four horses, twenty-five 
cents; the same with two horses, fifteen cents, and with two 
wheels, ten cents. Carriages of burden were charged about 
one-half these rates. The act expired by its own limitation at 
the end of five years. 

On the 8th of May, 1803, our good people had a rather un- 
welcome visitant, so late in the season, in the shape of a snow 



350 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1812. 

storm. The snow covered the ground, though the greater part 
of it melted as it fell. On the next morning still water was 
frozen into ice a quarter of an inch in thickness, and the ditches 
and ponds of water in many places were frozen over. 

On the IStli of February, 1804, an act was passed " to pro- 
vide for the erection of a house for the Employment and Sup- 
port of the Poor in the County of Delaware." This act pro- 
vided for the election by the people of seven persons to fix upon 
a site for the County house. The gentlemen chosen selected 
the property adjoining the present town of Media, upon which 
the old Poor-house now stands. The selection made was gener- 
ally regarded at the time as injudicious, on account of the ex- 
hausted condition of the land that was chosen ; but the location 
of the new seat of justice adjoining the property, made it a very 
profitable investment for the County. The original farm con- 
sisting of 137 acres, was purchased for less than |33 per 
acre ; subsequently an additional small tract was bought for 
about $100 per acre. The chief part of this property was sold 
in two tracts — 46 acres at $250 per acre and 112 acres at 
$341.50 per acre. 

Up to the time of the completion of the new Poor-house, the 
poor were supported in the several townships by boarding them 
in private families under the charge of two overseers of the poor 
for each township. This office was abolished as soon as the poor 
were removed to the newly erected building. 

From 1804, till the breaking out of the war between the 
United States and Great Britain, nothing worthy of particular 
notice occurred. Owing to the European war that raged during 
this period, the commerce of our country was benefited, and 
there was an increased demand for its agricultural products. 
Our County fully shared these advantages, and the result was 
an effort on the part of our farmers to improve their lands and 
thereby to increase their products. These lands, in many 
places, had become exhausted by a system of bad farming that 
is generally adopted in new countries, and it was not then un- 
common to see large tracts abandoned for agricultural purposes, 
and left unenclosed. These exhausted tracts generally received 
the appellation of "old fields." The use of gypsum and lime 
as manures now began to be introduced, the former, at first, work- 
ing almost miracles, by the increased productiveness it imparted 
to the soil. It was soon discovered, however, that its effect 
was greatly diminished by repeated applications, and as a con- 
sequence it became less used ; while lime, though slow in devel- 
oping its benefits, soon became the general favorite with our 
farmers, and deservedly so, for it cannot be denied that it was 
owing to its extensive and continued application, combined with 



1814.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 351 

a better system of farming, that much of the land of this County 
has been brought from an exhausted condition to its present 
state of fertility and productiveness. 

The declaration of war by our government in 1812 against 
Great Britain, created no greater alarm in our community than 
■was common over the whole country. It was not till the sum- 
mer of 1814 that apprehensions of immediate danger were 
seriously entertained. The appearance of the British fleet in 
the Chesapeake aroused the Philadelphians to the adoption of 
measures for the defence of their city. The approaches by 
land were to be defended by a series of earthworks which were 
hastily erected. The most distant of these defences from the 
city was located in this County between Crum and Ridley 
creeks, so as to command the Southern Post-road. 

The danger of Chester was still greater than Philadelphia, 
and the means of defence much less, although an extensive 
earthwork had been thrown up immediately below Marcus Hook, 
and mounted with cannon, so as to command the river. As a 
measure of precaution the public Records of the County of 
Delaware were kept packed up, ready for removal to a place of 
greater security in the interior. 

In October, an encampment of several thousand militia was 
established on the high grounds immediately back of Marcus 
Hook. The men composing it were drafted from the south- 
eastern part of Pennsylvania. Of these Delaware County fur- 
nished two full companies of 100 men upon two separate drafts, 
the second of which was regarded as illegal. The first company 
was convened at the " Three Tuns,'' now the Lamb tavern, in 
Springfield, on the 14th of October, and marched to Chester 
that day. Its officers were, Capt. William Morgan, 1st Lieut. 
Aaron Johnson, 2d Lieut. Charles Carr, and Ensign, Samuel 
Hayes. This company remained at Chester two weeks waiting 
for their camp equipage, before repairing to the encampment at 
Marcus Hook. During this time the men occupied meeting- 
houses and other public buildings. 

The second company arrived at camp about two weeks later. 
It was commanded by Capt. John Hall, Lieutanant 
and Ensign Robert Dunn. John L. Pearson of Ridley held 
the office of Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment to which the 
above two companies belonged. 

The danger of an invasion of the State by way of the Dela 
ware or Chesapeake having passed away, the encampment was 
broken up early in December. The two Delaware County com- 
panies with others were marched to Darby, where, for two 
weeks, they occupied the Methodist and Friends' meeting-houses, 
the bark-house, school-house, &c., after which they were marched 
to Philadelphia and discharged the day before Christmas. 



352 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1814. 

Besides the two companies of militia mentioned, Delaware 
County furnished two companies of volunteers. One of these, 
called The Delaware (7omw^?/ ^ewc/SZes, numbering 87 men, includ- 
ing officers, was commanded by Capt. James Serrill; First Lieut., 
Geo. G. Leiper ; Second Lieut., James Serrill, Jr., and Ensign, 
Geo. Serrill. This company was fully equipped on the 21st 
of September, and marched on the 23d. On the 26th the tents 
of the company were pitched at Camp Marcus Hook, where it 
remained one month. At the expiration of this time the com- 
pany marched to Camp Dupont, and thence on the 16th of No- 
vember to Camp Cadwalader ; both of these latter camps being 
in the State of Delaware. On the 29th of November they 
marched by the way of New Castle towards Philadelphia, where 
the company arrived on the 2d of December, and was dismissed 
on the 6th of that month. 

The other company ^as called The Mifflin Guards, and was 
commanded by Dr. Samuel Anderson as Captain ; First Lieut., 
Frederic Shull ; Second Lieut., David A. Marshall, and Ensign, 
Wm. Biggart. This company, which did not muster so many 
men as the Fencibles, was in service about the same length of 
time. It was stationed part of the time at Camp Dupont, and 
another part near Kennet. Both of these companies were well 
officered, and were composed of men able and willing to do their 
duty. Like the militia, they were called into service to defend 
the approaches to Philadelphia against the threatened invasion 
of the enemy ; but fortunately the presence of the troops station- 
ed on the Delaware was sufficient for the purpose, and no actual 
hostilities ensued. 

The Bank of Delaware County was incorporated in the year 
1814. The act authorizing its incorporation was passed in oppo- 
sition to the veto of Simon Snyder, then Governor of the Com- 
monwealth. A large number of banks was created by this act, 
but many of them soon failed, and but few of them have 
been more generally successful than the Bank of Delaware 
County. This bank, however, met with one serious re- 
verse, in having more than one-half of its capital abstracted. 
It was never discovered who committed the robbery, nor Was 
the exact time or times when it was committed ever ascer- 
tained. 

During the war, and for a short time afterwards, the people of 
this section of our country were in a prosperous condition. The 
families of the farmers of our County manufactured their own 
clothing to a considerable extent. There were, and had been for 
a long time, fulling mills throughout the County, that aided in 
these domestic operations, and machine cards had been intro- 
duced. The difficulties thrown in the way of trade, even before 



1817.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 353 

the commencement of hostilities, caused an advance in the price 
of foreign dry goods, that induced our people to turn their at- 
tention to a more rapid production of textile fabrics than that 
which had heretofore prevailed. As early as 1810, an English 
family, named Bottomly, converted an old saw-mill that stood on 
a small stream in Concord (with a small addition) into a woolen 
manufactory, to the astonishment of the whole neighborhood. 
Dennis Kelly, with the- assistance of a Mr. Wiest, erected a 
small stone factory on Cobb's creek, in Haverford, about the 
commencement of tlie war. This establishment was patronized 
by the government, and with the energetic management of Mr. 
Kelly, turned out goods to the fullest extent of its capacity. 
Other mills were soon erected and put into operation, but still, 
during the war, dry goods of all kinds continued to command a 
high price. 

But the almost free introduction of foreign goods, some time 
after the close of the war, was a severe blow to these hastily 
gotten up establishments, and caused the suspension of some of 
them. Still it was in these small beginnings that the manufac- 
turing business of Delaware County had its origin. 

Farmers, in consequence, lost their home market, and there 
was no foreign demand for the productions of their farms. With 
the fall in the price of agricultural products, that of land also 
declined. During the war, land came to be regarded as the only 
safe investment, and purchases were made at almost fabulous 
prices. Many of the purchasers, under such circumstances, 
were now obliged to sell at a ruinous sacrifice. In this County 
the number of such sales was, however, strikingly less than in 
the adjacent counties. 

This depressed condition of business did not last long, but the 
improvement was gradual, and as a consequence people could 
only advance their pecuniary interests by the slow but certain 
means of industry and frugality. * 

In the year 1817, Edward Hunter, Esq., a highly respectable 
citizen of Newtown township, was deliberately murdered by John 
H. Craig, by lying in wait in the daytime and shooting him. 
Esquire Hunter had witnessed a will that Craig was anxious to 
have set aside, and being an ignorant man, he believed that by 
putting the witnesses to it out of the way, his object would be 
accomplished. He had watched more than once for an opportu- 
nity to shoot Isaac Cochrane, the other witness to the will, but 
failed to accomplish his purpose. Mr. Hunter was shot while 
taking his horse to the stable, and although the fiendish act was 
committed in the most cool and deliberate manner, Craig's pre- 
sence of mind at once forsook him, for he left his gun where it 
was readily found, which at once indicated him as the murderer. 
23 



354 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1820. 

He was subsequently arrested in the northern part of the State, 
where he was engaged in chopping wood, being identified by a 
fellow wood-chopper from the description in the advertisement, 
offering a reward for his apprehension. He was tried and con- 
victed in the following April at Chester, and soon after exe- 
cuted. 

On the 8th of November, 1819, the first newspaper published 
in Delaware County was issued from the ofiice of Butler & Wor- 
thington, at Chester. This paper, which made a very neat ap- 
pearance, was called the "Post Boy." Us dimensions were 
seventeen by twenty-one inches. 

Dissatisfaction had for some time existed among the people 
of the upper part of the County on account of the seat of jus- 
tice being situated on its southern margin. The people of the 
township of Radnor, residing much nearer to Norristown, the 
seat of justice of Montgomery County, than to Chester, peti- 
tioned for the annexation of their township to that County. 
The fact that the taxes of Montgomery were lower than 
those of Delaware, is also said to have had an influence in pro- 
moting this movement. Be this as it may, the prospect of losing 
one of the best townships in the County was a matter of serious 
alarm, when its small dimensions were taken into consideration. 
The discontented in the other remote townships seeing that the 
loss of Radnor would weaken their strongest ground of com- 
plaint, determined to test the question of a removal of the seat 
of justice of the County to a more central situation. Accord- 
ingly a general meeting of the inhabitants of the County, "both 
friendly and unfriendly" to the proposed removal, was con- 
vened on the 8th of June, 1820. The meeting was unusually 
large and very respectable, and after the subject of removal had 
been discussed very fully and rather freely, a vote was taken 
which resulted in favor of the removalists. Removal now be- 
came the leading to^ic of discussion throughout the County. 
All party distinctions became merged in it, and the most ultra 
politicians of opposite parties united cordially on a removal or 
anti-removal platform. Meetings were held and nominations 
were made accordingly. The ballot-box showed the anti-remo- 
valists in the majority. .George G. Leiper, of Ridley, and Abner 
Lewis, of Radnor, both anti-removalists, were elected to the 
Assembly. The anti-removalists, by the nomination of Mr. 
Lewis, had secured nearly the whole vote of Radnor — under the 
belief that the election of the anti-removal ticket afforded them 
the only chance of being annexed to Montgomery County. The 
test was not regarded by the removalists as satisfactory, and 
they petitioned the Legislature for redress, but certainly with 
but small hopes of success. In their memorial, which is very 



1824.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 365 

long, they set forth the fact of the effort of Radnor to be at- 
tached to Montgomery County ; the dilapidated condition of the 
jail ; the insalubrity of the air at Chester to persons from the 
upper parts of the County ; the danger of the records from at- 
tack by an enemy ; the badness of the water, &c. " And finally," 
they say, "to satisfy the Legislature that nothing is asked for 
by the petitioners which would throw any unreasonable expense 
on the County, assurances are given by one of the inhabitants — 
perfectly responsible and competent to the undertaking — that 
he will give an obligation to any one authorized to receive it, 
conditioned to erect the public buildings upon any reasonable 
and approved plan, for the sum oi fifteen thousand dollars, to be 
paid in seven years by instalments — if the convenience of the 
County should require credit — and to take the present buildings 
and lot at Chester at a fair valuation as part pay." 

This petition was drawn up by Robert Frazer, Esq., then a 
prominent lawyer, residing in the upper part of the County, and 
was signed by 912 citizens. The number who signed the remon- 
strance is not known, but as a matter of course with both repre- 
sentatives opposed to removal, no legislation favorable to that 
measure was obtained, and it is only wonderful that the remo- 
valists should press the matter under such circumstances. What 
is remarkable, the people of Radnor appeared to relax their 
efforts to obtain legislation to authorize the township to be an- 
nexed to Montgomery County. 

At the next election, John Lewis and William Cheyney, both 
removalists, were elected members of the Assembly, but from 
some cause they failed in obtaining the much-desired law 
authorizing the seat of justice to be removed to a more central 
situation. The question after this effort, appears to have been 
allowed to slumber for a time. It was, however, occasionally 
discussed, and the removalists maintained a strict vigilance to 
prevent any extensive repairs being made to the public buildings 
at Chester. 

In February, 1822, a remarkably high freshet occurred in all 
the streams of Delaware County, chiefly caused by the rapid 
melting of a deep snow. The mill-ponds were covered with a 
thick ice at the time, which was broken up and occasioned con- 
siderable damage in addition to that caused by the great height 
of the water in the creeks. 

In 1824 one of the most brutal murders on record was com- 
mitted at the residence of Mary Warner, in Upper Darby, upon 
a young married man named William Bonsall. The family con- 
sisted of Mrs. Warner, Bonsall and his wife. Three men entered 
the house late at night with the object of committing a burglary, 
and although Bonsall was sick and made no resistance, one of 



356 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1826. 

them wantonly stabbed him in the abdomen with a shoemaker's 
knife, which caused his immediate death. Besides committing 
the murder the party plundered the house. Three men were 
arrested and tried for the homicide ; Michael Monroe, alias James 
Wellington, was convicted of murder in the first degree and ex- 
ecuted ; Washington Labbe was convicted of murder in the se- 
cond degree, and Abraham Buys was acquitted. 

After the close of the war with Great Britain, manufacturing 
establishments, of various kinds, rapidly sprung up over the 
County, It became an object of interest to ascertain the extent 
of these improvements, and also to obtain more particular infor- 
mation in respect to unimproved water-power. For this purpose 
George G. Leiper, John Willcox and William Martin, Esqs., 
were appointed a committee, who employed Benjamin Pearson, 
Esq., to travel over the County and obtain the necessary statis- 
tics. From the facts reported by Mr. Pearson, the committee 
make the following summary: 

Thirty-eight flour mills, sixteen of which grind 203,600 bushels 
of grain per annum. 

Fifty-three saw mills, sixteen of which cut 1,717,000 feet of 
lumber per annum. 

Five rolling and slitting mills, which roll 700 tons of sheet 
iron per annum, value, $105,000 ; employ thirty hands, wages, 
|7;200. 

Fourteen woolen factories, employ 228 hands. 

Twelve cotton factories, manufacture 704,380 lbs. of yarn per 
annum, value, $232,445 ; employ 415 hands, wages, |51,380. 

Eleven paper mills, manufacture 31,296 reams of paper per 
annum, value, |114,712 ; employ 215 hands, wages, |29,120. 

Two powder mills, manufacture 11,900 quarter casks per 
annum, value, $47,600 ; employ forty hands, wages, $12,000. 

One nail factory, manufactures 150 tons of nails per annum, 
value, $20,000 ; employ eight hands, wages, $2,400. 

Four tilt, blade and edge-tool manufactories, two of which 
manufacture, per annum, 2000 axes, 200 cleavers, 1,200 dozen 
shovels, 200 doz. scythes and 500 drawing knives. 

One power-loom mill, weaves 30,000 yards per week, $3,000 ; 
employs 120 hands, wages, per week, $500 ; 200 looms. 

Two oil mills, make 7000 galls, linseed oil per annum, value, 
$7,000. 

One machine factory, five snuff mills, two plaster or gypsum 
mills, three clover mills, three bark mills, and one mill for saw- 
ing stone — making, in the aggregate, 158 improved mill seats, 
and forty-two unimproved on the principal streams. Total mill 
seats 200. 

These returns, though in several branches of small account 



1833.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 357 

in comparison with the extensive establishments of the present 
daj, were certainly creditable at that early period, when steam 
had been but little employed in propelling machinery, and when 
it is considered that the whole extent of the County is only about 
170 square miles. 

In 1827 the dissensions, that had for some time existed in the 
Society of Friends, culminated in an open rupture. The history 
of this unfortunate feud properly belongs to the history of the 
Society throughout the United States. The animosities that 
were engendered among those who, in former times, had lived on 
terms of the most friendly, and even social intercourse, existed 
here, as in other places, and were productive of the like conse- 
quences. The author has witnessed with pleasure, within the 
past few years, a softening down of those animosities, and indeed 
of every feeling of unkindness in each party towards the other. 
He would, therefore, regard himself as doing an unpardonable 
mischief in reviving the facts and circumstances that unhappily 
gave rise to them. 

On the 21st of September, 1833, the institution under whose 
authority this history was prepared, was organized with the title 
of the "Delaware County Institute of Science," by the associa- 
tion at first of only five individuals.^ The object of the associa- 
tion was to promote the study and diffusion of general knowledge, 
and the establishment of a museum. The number of members 
gradually increased, and when it became necessary for the insti- 
tution to hold real estate, application was made to the Supreme 
Court for corporate privileges, which were granted on the 8th 
of February, 1836. A Hall of very moderate pretensions was 
built in Upper Providence in the year 1837,^ at which the mem- 
bers of the Institute have continued to hold their meetings till 
the present time. Lectures were also given in the Hall for some 
time after its erection. The number of its members was never 
large, but through the persevering efforts of a few individuals it 
has been enabled to accomplish most, if not all, the objects con- 
templated in its establishment. The museum of the Institute 
embraces a respectable collection of specimens in every depart- 
ment of the natural sciences, and particularly such as are calcu- 
lated to illustrate the natural history of the County. It also 
embraces many other specimens of great scientific or historical 
value. Nor has the establishment of a library been neglected ; 
and although the number of books it contains is not large, it is 
seldom that the same number of volumes is found together of 

1 The persons referred to were George Miller, Minshall Painter, John Miller, George 
Smith and John Cassin. 

2 The Hall of the Institute was formally opened in September of that year, upon 
which occasion an appropriate address was delivered by Dr. Robt. M. Patterson, then 
Director of the U. S. Mint. 



368 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1836. 

equal value. It has not failed to observe and record local phe- 
nomena and to investigate local facts ; and the usefulness and 
value of the natural productions of the County have, in more 
than one instance, been established hj laborious scientific inves- 
tigations. But for obvious reasons the author will forbear to 
give any detailed account of the doings of the institution be- 
yond such as it may be necessary to notice incidentally, here- 
after, in relating a few historical facts. 

Since the establishment of the Delaware County Institute of 
Science, many similar institutions have been established in vari- 
ous counties throughout the commonwealth. But few of these 
are prosperous ; a few maintain a nominal existence, while most 
of them have ceased to exist. 

While it has ever been the policy of the religious Society of 
Friends to have their children well instructed in the more useful 
branches of learning, it was not till the year 1833 that an insti- 
tution was established by them, specially for the instruction of 
their youth in classical and corresponding studies. In that year, 
members of the branch of the Society termed Orthodox, founded 
Haverford School. The benefits of this institution were at first 
confined to the sons of the members of the religious Society men- 
tioned, though that Society, as such, had no control in its manage- 
ment. 

Connected with the school buildings, which are not large, is a 
tract of nearly two hundred acres of land. Forty acres of this 
land, surrounding the buildings, were appropriated to a lawn, 
which for beauty and the variety of its trees and shrubbery, is 
scarcely equaled in the country. The balance of the land is 
used for farming purposes. 

Some years since, all the privileges of a college were conferred on 
this institution; and the managers thereof agreeing to receive 
as students others than the members of their Society, the sphere 
of its usefulness has been greatly increased. Haverford College 
now enjoys a high reputation as a literary and scientific institu- 
tion, while in respect to the moral training to which the student 
is subjected, it is unsurpassed by any college in the country. 

Aj the commencement of the construction of the Delaware 
Breakwater, a large proportion of the stone used for that pur- 
pose was taken from the quarries in this County. The superin- 
tendent of the work, in the autumn of 1836, arrived at the 
conclusion that the Pennsylvania stone was inferior to that from 
the quarries in Delaware State, on account of the large propor- 
tion of mica it contained. He thought the presence of the mica 
rendered the Pennsylvania stone " peculiarly liable to chemical 
decomposition," and also to a further decay from the attrition of 
the waves. He even stated in his report, " that the experience 



1843.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 359 

of the work, within the few years it has been in construction, 
has shown that the stones have decayed from both the^e causes." 

Large quantities of stone had been quarried, particularly on 
Crum and Ridley Creeks, when the Government, on the strength 
of the report of its agent, rejected the stone from Delaware 
County. Those engaged in the business, who would be subjected 
to great loss by the rejection of their stone, brought the matter 
to the notice of the County Institute, which promptly appointed 
a committee to investigate the subject. The author was chair- 
man of that committee, and upon him devolved the task of 
making the necessary investigations, and of drawing up the 
report. That report was decidedly favorable to the durability 
of the Delaware County stone. Its material conclusions were 
subsequently confirmed by a board of military engineers, and the 
Pennsylvania stone again accepted by the Government. 

The year 1838 was remarkable on account of a great drought 
that prevailed throughout a large extent of country, embracing 
Delaware County. From about the first of July till nearly the 
first of October, no rain fell except a few very slight showers.. 
The earth became parched, and vegetation dried up. All the 
later crops failed ; and what added greatly to the injurious effects 
of the drought, myriads of grasshoppers made their appearance, 
and voraciously devoured nearly every green blade of grass that 
had survived to the period of their advent. Even the blades 
and ears of Indian corn were greatly injured in many places. 
Cattle suffered much for want of pasture, and many persons were 
obliged to feed them on hay during the months of August and 
September, or upon corn cut from the field. 

A great ice freshet occurred in the winter of 1839, which 
caused considerable damage ; but as it sinks into utter insignifi- 
cance when compared with the great freshet of the 5th of 
August, 1843, we will proceed to give an account of the storm 
and freshet of that day, which may be regarded as one of the 
most extraordinary events that have occurred within the limits 
of our County since it was first visited by Europeans. This will 
be an easy task, as all the material facts connected with this 
unusual phenomenon, and its disastrous consequences, were 
carefully collected at the time by a committee of the Delaware 
County Institute of Science, of which the author was chairman, 
and embodied in an elaborate report, which was published in 
pamphlet form. Only the general and most material facts will 
be extracted from that report, as the reader who may desire more 
particular information on the subject, can have recourse to the 
report itself, which is preserved in several libraries. 

The morning of the 5tli of August, 1843, at early dawn, gave 
indications of a rainy day. The wind was in the East or North 



360 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, [1843. 

East, and the clouds were observed to have an appearance which 
indicated a fall of rain. The sun was barely visible at rising, 
and a short time afterwards the whole sky became overclouded. 
At about 7 o'clock, A. M., it commenced raining, and continued 
to rain moderately, with occasional remissions, but without any 
very perfect intermission until noon or later. This was a gene- 
ral rain, which extended much beyond the limits of Delaware 
County in every direction. This general rain scarcely caused 
an appreciable rise in the streams ; but it had the effect of fully 
saturating the surface of the ground with water to the depth of 
some inches, and in this way contributed to increase the flood in 
some degree beyond what it would have been, had the subsequent 
heavy rain fallen on the parched earth. 

No general description of this rain, which caused the great 
inundation, will exactly apply to any two neighborhoods, much 
less to the whole extent of the County. In the time of its com- 
mencement and termination — in the quantity of rain which fell — 
in the violence and direction of the wind, there was a remarkable 
want of correspondence between different parts of the County. 
It may be observed, however, that comparatively little rain fell 
along its southern and southeastern borders. 

Cobb's Creek, on the eastern margin of the County, and 
Brandywine on the west, were not flooded in any extraordinary 
degree. This conclusively shows that the greatest violence of 
the storm was expended on the district of country which is 
drained by Chester, Ridley, Crum, Darby, and the Gulf Creeks, 
and one or two tributaries of the Brandywine. This district will 
include a part of Chester County, and a very small part of Mont- 
gomery ; but including these, the whole extent of country that 
was inundated did not exceed in area the territory embraced 
within the County of Delaware. The extent of territory that 
Avas inundated was also much greater than that which was sub- 
jected to any very extraordinary fall of rain. The amount of 
rain which fell on that part of the County which borders on the 
river Delaware, and embraces the mouths and lower parts of the 
inundated creeks, was not sufiicient to produce even an ordinary 
rise in the streams, and to this circumstance may in part be 
attributed the very unprepared state in which the inhabitants of 
this district were found for the mighty flood of waters which was 
approaching to overwhelm them. The very rapid rise in the 
water in the streams, without apparently any adequate cause, 
was also well calculated to increase the alarm in this district 
beyond what it would have been, had the quantity of water that 
fell there borne a comparison with that which fell in the upper 
parts of the County. 

As a general rule, the heavy rain occurred later as we proceed 



1843.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 361 

from the sources of the streams towards their mouths. The quan- 
tity of rain which fell will decrease as we proceed in the same 
direction, particularly from the middle parts of the County down- 
wards. 

In those sections of the County where its greatest violence 
was expended, the character of the storm more nearly accorded 
with that of a tropical hurricane than with anything which ap- 
pertained to this region of country. The clouds wore an un- 
usually dark and lowering appearance, of which the whole 
atmosphere seemed in some degree to partake, and this cir- 
cumstance, no doubt, gave that peculiarly vivid appearance to 
the incessant flashes of lightning, which was observed by every 
one. The peals of thunder were loud and almost continuous. 
The clouds appeared to approach from different directions, and 
to concentrate at a point not very distant from the zenith of 
the beholder. In many places there was but very little wind, 
the rain falling in nearly perpendicular streams ; at other places 
it blew a stiff breeze, first from the east or northeast, and sud- 
denly shifting to the southwest, while at a few points it blew in 
sudden gusts with great violence, accompanied with whirlwinds, 
which twisted off and prostrated large trees, and swept every- 
thing before it. 

So varied was the character of the storm at different places, 
that the committee of the Institute, in order to present a satis- 
factory account of it, was obliged to embody the remarks of the 
different observers throughout the County. Brief extracts will 
be made from these remarks. 

In Concord township the heavy rain commenced at about a 
quarter before three o'clock, p.m., the wind being E. S. E., but 
it veered so rapidly retrogade to the sun's motion, that the 
clouds appeared to verge to a centre over the western section of 
Delaware County, from several points of the compass at the 
same time — the rain falling in torrents resembling a water 
spout. At about a quarter before four o'clock the wind had 
nearly boxed the compass, and blew a gale from W. S. W., and 
about that hour, a tornado or whirlwind, passed across the 
southern part of Concord, about a quarter of a mile in width, 
prostrating forest and fruit trees, and scattering the fences i» 
every direction. In the neighborhood of Concord the rain con- 
tinued about three hours, and the quantity that fell in that 
vicinity, as nearly as could be ascertained, was about sixteen 
inches. It is not probable that a greater quantity of rain fell 
in any other part of the County. 

In Newtown township the heavy rain commenced about two 
o'clock, and terminated about five o'clock, p. M., the wind, 
during the rain, being nearly N. W. There was a heavy blow 



362 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1843. 

of wind, but it was not violent. The quantity of rain that fell 
was between eleven and thirteen inches- At Newtown Square, 
in forty minutes, immediately before five o'clock, it was ascer- 
tained that five inches and a half of rain fell. As observed in 
the north part of Radnor, the heavy rain commenced about four 
o'clock, P, M., and ceased about six o'clock. At the commence- 
ment the wind blew from the S. or S. W. but changed to the 
S. E. about four and a half or five o'clock, from which direction 
came the heaviest rain. 

At Crozerville the storm appeared to have concentrated, and 
spent itself with awful violence. The morning had been lower- 
ing with occasional showers of rain, the air cool for the season. 
After noon the sky was thickly overcast, and clouds floated 
slowly in various directions, the wind as noted by a vane, N. E. 
After two o'clock, thunder was heard at a distance, which soon 
became louder and more frequent. About three o'clock, under 
an unusually dark sky, rain commenced falling in torrents, ac- 
companied with vivid lightning and almost continuous peals of 
thunder. The lightning was more vivid than ever had been 
witnessed by the observer in the day-time, nor had he ever before 
heard so much loud thunder at one time. The rain terminated 
a few minutes before six o'clock. Crozerville lies in a basin 
surrounded by steep acclivities. In every direction from these 
hills, sheets of water poured down, and mingling with the cur- 
rent below, presented, together with the rapid succession of 
forked lightning, a scene of awful sublimity. 

In the northern part of Middletown the greatest violence of 
the storm lasted from three to five o'clock, p.m., the wind blow- 
ing from every quarter, but not with great violence. 

In the northern part of Nether Providence the heavy rain 
commenced between four and five o'clock, and continued till a 
quarter past six o'clock. The wind blew from various directions, 
and at five o'clock with great violence from the W. N. W. In 
the northwest of Springfield township the heavy rain com- 
menced between two and three o'clock and continued till five. 
There was a strong current of air or whirlwind that passed over 
the high grounds near Beatty's mills, that uprooted and broke 
ctff trees. Lower down, on Crum Creek, " there appeared to be 
two storms of rain approaching one another, one from the S. E., 
the other from the N. W., which appeared to meet, and it could 
not be told for some minutes which would prevail, but eventually 
the one from the S. E. carried the sway," the rain being greatly 
increased during the struggle. At another point in Springfield 
the heaviest rain fell between five and six o'clock, the wind 
being variable, and blowing at one time with great violence, 
prostrating trees and fences in its course. 



1843.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 363 

In the middle part of Chester township the heaviest rain was 
late in the afternoon; there being no wind it fell in vertical 
streams. On the upper border of this township there was 
some wind. In the township of Bethel, not far from the Dela- 
ware state line, a hurricane of great violence occurred between 
four and five o'clock in the afternoon. The wind blew in oppo- 
site directions, as was proven by uprooted trees. Two miles 
further north the wind was still more violent, tearing up a large 
quantity of heavy timber in a very small space. A valley of 
woodland, bounded by high hills, had nearly all its timber pros- 
trated, not lengthwise with the valley, but across it, with the 
tops of the trees towards the N. E. 

In the western part of Upper Darby the rain was very heavy, 
but the storm was not so violent as further N. W. The heavy 
rain, however, began about three o'clock, while in the more 
easterly parts of the same township, but three-fourths of an inch 
of rain (accurately measured) fell during the day. In the neigh- 
borhood of Chester it rained moderately through the day, with 
one pretty heavy shower in the evening. 

In Birmingham, heavy rains commenced about noon — the 
wind east or southeast. The clouds were dark and heavy, the 
lightning sharp, and the thunder very heavy, " accompanied 
with a rumbling noise in the air." The wind was changeable, 
and blew with great violence. The rain ceased about four o'clock. 

The most remarkable circumstance connected with the rise in 
the waters of the several streams, was its extreme suddenness. 
In this particular, the flood in question has but few parallels on 
record ; occurring in a temperate climate, and being the result 
of rain alone,. The description given by many persons of its 
approach in the lower district of the County, forcibly reminds one 
of the accounts he has read of the advance of the tides in the Bay 
of Fundy, and other places where they attain a great height. 
Some spoke of the water as coming down in a breast of several 
feet at a time ; others described it as approaching in waves ; 
but all agree, that at one period of the flood, there was an 
almost instantaneous rise in the water of from five to eight 
feet. The time at which this extreme rapidity in the rise of 
the water occurred, was (in most places) after the streams had 
become so much swollen as to nearly or quite fill their ordinary 
channels. The quantity of water required to produce such a 
phenomenon, was thereiPore immensely greater, as the valleys 
of the streams in most places have a transverse section of several 
hundred feet. The breaking of mill-dams, and the yielding of 
bridges, and other obstructions, contributed in a degree to pro- 
duce such an extraordinary swell, but we must mainly look for 
the cause of this sudden rush of waters to the violence of the 



364 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1843. 

rain — if the term rain will apply to the torrents of water that 
fell in the northern and western sections of the County. 

Cohb's Creek, on the eastern margin of the County, was not 
swollen much beyond an ordinary flood, although 5.82 inches of 
rain fell during the day at Haverford College within the drain- 
age of that stream. 

Darhy Oreeh, in a narrow valley above Heys' factory, at- 
tained a height of 17 feet; the greatest height of Qrum Creek 
was about 20 feet, and that of Ridley Creek 21 feet. At Dut- 
ton's mill, Chester Creek rose to the height of 33 feet 6 
inches. 

To notice all the interesting details that are given in the re- 
port on the flood, from which the foregoing extracts have been 
taken, would occupy too much space in this volume. The sub- 
ject will be concluded by presenting a summary of the damages 
sustained by the freshet within the limits of the County, both 
public and private, together with a brief notice of the casualties 
that resulted in the loss of life, and the narrow escapes from 
imminent peril. 

Thirty- two of the county bridges were either wholly destroyed 
or seriously injured. The following estimate of the damage 
sustained by the bridges on the several streams, was carefully 
made by competent persons : — 



^3,370 

475 

6,875 

5,400 

8,600 

24,700 



On Darby Creek, 

" Ithan " 
" Crum " 
" Ridley " 
" Chester " 



Many of the townships also sustained heavy losses in the de- 
struction of small bridges and culverts. 

The damage to private property will be given in the aggre- 
gate, only specifying the amount on each creek : — 

On Darby Creek and tributaries, . . 1 20, 000 

On Crum Creek and " . . 24,000 

On Ridley Creek and " . . 39,000 

On Chester Creek and its branches, . . 104,000 

On tributaries of the Brandywine, . . 2,600 



Amount of private loss, . . . $190,375 

It is also estimated that the Philadelphia, Wilmington and 
Baltimore Railroad Company sustained damage to the amount 
of $4,500. 



1843.] HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. 365 

Nineteen human beings lost their lives by drowning. To 
persons who cannot bring their minds to realize the almost 
instantaneous rise in the water, this number may appear large, 
but it is really almost miraculous, that under the circumstances, 
so small a number should have perished. Hair-breadth escapes, 
and rescues from perilous situations, were numerous. Had the 
inundation occurred at midnight, when most persons are wrapped 
in slumber, the destruction of human life would have been 
■dreadful indeed. Such a calamity can only be contemplated 
with feelings of horror. 

Seven lives were lost on Darby Creek. When the stone bridge 
at Darby yielded to the torrent, two young men — Russell K. 
Flounders and Josiah Bunting, jr., were standing upon it. Both 
perished. At the cotton factory of D. & C. Kelly, on the Dela- 
ware County Turnpike five lives were lost. Michael Nolan and 
his family, consisting of his wife, five children and a young 
woman named Susan Dowlan, occupied a small frame tenement 
immediately below the western wall of the bridge. Before any 
immediate danger from the rise of water was apprehended, 
Michael and his eldest son had left the house with the view of 
making arrangements for the removal of the family. There was no 
water about the house when the father and son started, yet upon 
their attempt to return, after an absence of five minutes, it was 
not in the power of any one to reach the dwelling, much less to 
render the inmates any assistance. The wing-walls of the bridge 
soon gave way, and shortly after this the house was swept from 
its foundations, became a complete wreck, and all the inmates 
perished, except Susan Dowlan, who accidentally caught the 
branches of a tree, and at length obtained a foothold on a pro- 
jecting knot, where she supported herself till the water had suffi- 
ciently abated to allow her to be rescued. At Garrett's Factory 
three families, numbering sixteen individuals, were, for a long 
time, placed in the utmost jeopardy. Their retreat from land 
was wholly cut oflf by the sudden rise in the water — the houses 
they occupied were completely wrecked and large portions of 
them carried away, and they had nothing left to afford them the 
least security but the tottering remains of the ruins of their 
dwellings, which, fortunately, withstood the torrent. 

No lives were lost on Crum Creek. 

On Bidley Creek five individuals perished, a father and his 
four children. George Hargraves, his wife, four children and a 
brother, named William, occupied a central dwelling in a long 
stone building at Samuel Bancroft's factory, in Nether Provi- 
dence. The family delayed making their escape till it was too 
late, but retreated into the second story. The flood soon rushed 
through the building and carried away the two middle dwellings, 



366 HISTORY OF DELAAVARE COUNTY. [1843. 

and with it George Hargraves, his four older children and brother 
William ; his wife, with the youngest child in her arms, being in 
a corner of the room where the flooring was not entirely carried 
away. William was carried down the current half a mile, where 
he fortunately found a place of safety in the branches of a 
standing tree. Shortly after, George, with his children, floated 
by him on a bed, and, as he passed, cried out, " hold on to it, 
William," Scarcely had George given this admonition to his 
brother when he and his four children were swept from their' 
position on the bed and engulfed beneath the turbulent waters 
of the flood, not to rise again. After Jane, the wife of George 
Hargraves, had sustained herself on a mere niche of projecting 
flooring, with her child in her arms, during five hours, she was 
rescued. Thomas Wardell Brown, his wife and child, occupied the 
other demolished dwelling, but were saved by taking a position 
on a portion of flooring corresponding to that on which Jane 
Hargraves stood, but of much less dimensions. This was the 
only portion of their dwelling not carried away. 

A short distance above Sherman's upper factory, a double 
frame house, occupied by William Tooms and James Rigly and 
their families, was floated down the stream and lodged against 
the wheel-house of the factory, in a position opposite to a win- 
dow of the picker-house. Rigly, after placing his wife and child 
in the second story of the picker-house, discovered that Tooms, 
(who was sick) his wife and two children were in the garret of 
their dwelling, the roof of which was partly under water. He 
immediately broke a hole in the roof and rescued the inmates, 
one by one, and placed them in the picker-house. In half a 
minute after he returned the last time, their late dwelling was 
whirled over the wheel-house, dashed to pieces and carried down 
the stream. 

Edward Lewis, Esq., and his son Edward, were placed in a 
situation of great peril. They were in the third story of the 
grist-mill when the building began to yield to the flood — their 
paper and saw-mill having previously been swept away, and a 
current of great depth and velocity was passing between the mill 
and their dwelling, across which was their only chance of retreat. 
A considerable part of the walls of the mill gave way, and the 
roof and timbers fell in confusion around them, but fortunately 
enough of the building remained firm till they were rescued by 
means of a rope. 

On Chester Creek seven human beings were deprived of their 
lives by the flood, and many others were placed in situations of 
great jeopardy. 

Mary Jackson, a colored woman, while assisting her husband 
to save floating wood, near Flower's mill, was overtaken by the 



1843.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 367 

flood and drowned. Near the same place Mr. William G. Flower 
was subjected to imminent peril. Mr. F. was on the meadow 
when the flood came down in a wave, (represented by spectators 
as being from three to four feet high,) and swept him away. He 
was carried from his path into an old mill-race, where he suc- 
ceeded in reaching a grape vine, and by means of that, a tree. 
But the tree was soon uprooted and borne away. After a short 
period of extreme peril, during which he was several times over- 
whelmed with trees, timber, &c., carried along with frightful 
velocity, he succeeded in catching the branches of another tree, 
when, almost exhausted, he reached a place of safety. 

No lives were lost at Chester, though numbers were placed 
in extreme danger by remaining in a dwelling adjoining the 
eastern abutment of the bridge — the western abutment and the 
bridge having been carried away, and a fearful current passing 
between the eastern abutment and the town. Mr. Jonathan 
Dutton was placed in a situation of great jeopardy. While en- 
deavoring to secure some property in his mill from being damaged 
by the flood, he was surprised by the sudden rise in the water to 
an alarming height. He retreated from story to story till he 
reached the upper one. His situation soon became more awfully 
perilous, for the mill began to yield to the force of the torrent. 
His position becoming desperate, he leaped from a window of the 
mill and with great exertion reached the shore. 

John Rhoads, a resident of Pennsgrove, (now Glen Riddle) 
with his daughters, Hannah and Jane, and a granddaughter, 
were carried away in their dwelling and drowned. Mary Jane 
McGuigan, with her only child at her breast, in another dwelling 
at the same place, perished in the same manner. 

The new stone cotton factory at Knowlton, 76 by 36 feet, 
well stored with machinery, was carried away, but fortunately 
none of the operatives were in the building. There are many 
other interesting facts and circumstances connected with this 
unprecedented and disastrous flood, described in the report of 
the Committee of the Institute, but our allotted space will not 
permit us to notice them. 

The County Commissioners stood aghast at the almost uni- 
versal damage or destruction of the County bridges, and scarcely 
knew where to commence the work of rebuilding and repairs. 
The Legislature was applied to for an exemption of the County 
from State tax for one year, which application was ungenerously 
refused. Loans were resorted to ; and it became a matter of 
astonishment in what a short time both public and private da- 
mage was repaired, and almost everything restored to its former, 
or even to a better condition. The recuperative energies of no 
community were ever more severely taxed, and it was only by 



368 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1845. 

this test that the people of our County became fully acquainted 
with the vast extent of their own resources. 

We have now arrived at a period in our narrative when the 
proceedings commenced which, after a protracted contest, re- 
sulted in the removal of the seat of justice of the County from 
Chester to a more central location, around which has grown up 
the town of Media. The author took an active part in these 
proceedings on the side favorable to removal, and on that ac- 
count he would gladly have passed over the subject with the 
mere notice of the time when the seat of justice was removed. 
But it is a matter of too much local importance to be passed 
by so slightly. An effort will therefore be made to narrate the 
transactions connected with it free from any improper feeling 
or bias. 

On the 22d of November, 1845, agreeably to public notice, 
a meeting of citizens of the County was held at the Black 
Horse tavern in Middletown, " to take into consideration the 
propriety of removing the Seat of Justice to a more central po- 
sition." After adopting a preamble and resolutions favorable 
to a removal of the public buildings to a more central location, 
the meeting recommended meetings to be held in each township 
on the 5th of December following, " to elect two delegates in 
each, to meet on the 6th of December at the Black Horse tavern ; 
the delegates appointed to vote for the removal of the Seat of 
Justice or otherwise ; also, to decide upon those [the sites] de- 
signated by this meeting, which of them shall be adopted." The 
following places were named " as suitable locations for the pub- 
lic buildings : — County property in Providence ; Black Horse in 
Middletown ; Chester ; Rose Tree in Upper Providence, and 
Beaumont's Corner, Newtown." 

Between the time of holding this meeting and the election of 
delegates, the November Court was held, at which the Grand 
Jury recommended the erection of a new jail. This was the 
second Grand Jury that had made the same recommendation, 
and it now rested with the County Commissioners to proceed 
with the work, a circumstance that rendered it important that 
the question of the location of the new prison should be decided 
as early as possible. 

In some of the townships no delegates were elected ; and 
owdng to the very icy state of the roads, many who were elected 
did not attend the meeting appointed to be held on the 6th. 
Twelve townships were, however, represented as follows : 

Birmingham — Dr. Elwood Harvey, J. D. Gilpin. 
Chester— J. K. Zeilin, Y. S. Walter. 
Upper Chichester — Robert R. Dutton. 



1846.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 369 

Concord — M. Stamp, E. Yarnall. 
JEdgmont — E. B. Green, George Baker. 
Marple — Abraham Pratt, Dr. J. M. Moore. 
Middletown — Joseph Edwards, Abram Pennell. 
Newtown — Eli Lewis, T. H. Speakman. 
N. Providence — R. T. Worrall, P. Worrall. 
Upper Providence — E. Bishop, Thos. Reese. 
Thornhury — Eli Baker, David Green. 
Tinicum — Joseph Weaver, Jr. 

After various discussions, a vote was taken on the different 
sites that had been proposed, which resulted in giving the 
County property 8 votes ; the Black Horse, 6 ; Chester, 6, and 
Rose Tree, 2. Eventually, upon further ballotings, the County 
property received 12 votes, a majority of the whole. Both re- 
movalists and anti-removalists were very imperfectly represented 
by the Delegates assembled at this meeting, yet it was their ac- 
tion that determined the particular location of the future seat of 
justice of the County. 

The anti-removalists were present at the meeting to defeat the 
question of removal altogether ; but should not have participated 
in a vote upon the different sites, if they did not intend to be 
bound by the result. Those removalists, who felt thatthey had 
not been represented at the meeting, (and they constituted a 
majority of the whole,) were generally opposed to fixing a site 
at all, but desired that the vote of the people should be taken, 
simply, for and against the removal. From this cause, and with 
the view of reconciling all differences, the committee appointed 
by the meeting held at the Black Horse, called a third meeting, 
to be held at the Hall of the Delaware County Institute of Sci- 
ence, on the 30th of the same month. This meeting was very 
largely attended. An address to the people of the County was 
adopted, and also the form of a petition to the Legislature in 
favor of a law giving the people a right to vote on the question 
of removal without fixing a site. This was not acquiesced in 
by a considerable number of removalists residing principally in 
the northwestern part of the County, and the result was a 
schism in the removal party, and the adoption of two forms of 
petition to the Legislature. 

The County was represented by William Williamson of Chester 
County in the Senate, and by John Larkin, Jr., in the House — 
both gentlemen being opposed to removal, but both understood 
to be favorable to the passage of a law that would afford the 
people of the County a fair vote on the question. 

The dispute among the removalists in respect to fixing or not 
fixing a site in advance, grew warm, and as a majority of them 
24 



370 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1847. 

favored a law that would authorize the vote to be taken on the 
broad question of removal, the anti-removalists were led into the 
belief that this course was adopted because it was impossible for 
their opponents to unite on any one location, and consequently 
that they would run no risk in submitting the question of re- 
moval to a vote of the people, provided, that it should be taken 
between Chester and any one of the sites that had been men- 
tioned. Under this erroneous impression their opposition was 
directed almost wholly against the party who opposed deciding 
upon any site till after the question of removal had been decided, 
and they ventured to say in their remonstrance to the Legisla- 
ture that they " do not believe it is fair and equal justice to 
array the friends of all the locations suggested (six in number) 
against the present Seat of Justice, for were any one place se- 
lected by the petitioners, we [they^ are confident that two-thirds 
of the votes of the peojjle would he found against it.'' 

Though every reasonable effort was made to induce our repre- 
sentatives to go for a bill authorizing a general vote on the 
question, it was soon discovered that they would not favor any 
plan that did not fix upon a site in advance. The bill that had 
been prepared by the committee of correspondence was called 
up by Mr. Larkin, and being opposed by him, it was of course 
defeated by a large majority. 

The conduct of our representatives was very unsatisfactory to 
the removalists, and- had the effect of exciting them to greater 
efforts for carrying their favorite measure. The removal com- 
mittee of correspondence, in a published address to the citizens 
of the County favorable to removal, denounced the treatment 
their bill had received at the hands of the Legislature, and ex- 
horted their friends to a steady and unyielding persistence in 
their efforts, until the present untoward circumstances that sur- 
rounded the subject should be removed, and the clearest rights 
appertaining to citizens of a republican government should 
have been yielded to them. 

During the autumn of 1846 various efforts were made to 
secure the election of a strong removalist to the House of Rep- 
resentatives, but these efforts failed, and Sketchley Morton, Esq., 
a lukewarm anti-removalist, was elected, pledged, however, to 
advocate the passage of a law that would fairly submit the 
question of removal to a vote of the people of the County. 

The removalists who had opposed fixing a site for the pro- 
posed new seat of justice, finding that under existing circum- 
stances no bill could be passed in that shape, gradually yielded 
the point, and the result was the passage of the act of 1847, 
entitled " An act concerning the removal of the Seat of Justice 
of Delaware County." This act provided that at the next 



1847.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, 371 

general election, " those voters in favor of removal shall each 
vote a written or printed ticket, labelled on the outside, 8eat of 
Justice^ and containing the words Qounty property in Upper 
Providence^ and those opposed to removal, shall each vote a 
written or printed ticket, labelled on the outside as aforesaid, 
and containing the word Chester." In case a majority voted 
for " Chester," the Commissioners were required to erect a new 
jail at the existing seat of justice, while on the other hand, if a 
majority voted for the " County property in Upper Providence," 
the Commissioners were required " to definitely fix and deter- 
mine on the exact location for new public buildings for the ac- 
commodation of the County," not more distant "than one-half 
of a mile from the farm attached to the House for the support 
and employment of the poor" of Delaware County, and not more 
than one-half mile from the state road leading from Philadelphia 
to Baltimore. 

The question was now fairly at issue, and on terms that the 
anti-removalists could not object to, for they had proclaimed in 
their remonstrance to the Legislature their conviction, in case 
these terms should be adopted, that " two-thirds of the votes of 
the people" would be found against the proposed new site. 
They had, however, committed a fatal mistake in allowing a site 
for the new buildings to be selected so low down in the County, 
when it was within their power to have had one higher up and 
more distant from Chester selected. It was this that reconciled 
the great body of removalists to the proposed site ; for while it 
was not regarded by many of them as the most eligible, its se- 
lection greatly increased the number of voters who felt that 
their convenience would be promoted by a change. 

During the summer of 1847 a number of articles appeared in 
the public papers on both sides of the question, of various de- 
grees of merit. The removalists, through their committee of 
correspondence, went systematically to work and thoroughly or- 
ganized their party. Perhaps no party in the County had ever 
before been organized so well. It can do no harm now to state, 
that long before the election, the committee had become so well 
acquainted with the sentiments of the people of the County, that 
they could count with certainty upon a majority in favor of re- 
moval of at least three hundred. Their efibrts towards the close 
of the contest were not really for success, but to swell the 
majority which they knew they had, as well before, as after the 
election was held. 

On the 30th of August, the removalists held a public 
meeting at the house of Peter Worrall, in Nether Providence. 
This meeting, which was very large and enthusiastic, adopted 
an address to the citizens of the County, placing the question of 



372 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1847. 

removal in the most favorable light. Committees of vigilance 
were also appointed in the several townships throughout the 
County — even in the borough of Chester. 

Up to this time the opponents of removal had maintained an 
apathy on the subject that could only have arisen from a con- 
fidence in their supposed numerical strength. They now appear 
to have become suddenly aroused to the apprehension of a pos- 
sibility of some danger. A committee of correspondence, com- 
posed of the following named gentlemen, was suddenly, and 
perhaps informally, appointed, viz. : John M. Broomall, John P. 
Crozer, F. J. Hinkson, G. W. Bartram, Jesse Young, George 
G. Leiper, J. P. Eyre, John K. Zeilin, John Larkin, Jr., Edward 
Darlington, Samuel Edwards, and George Serrill. This com- 
mittee issued an elaborate address to the citizens of the county, re- 
viewing the proceedings of the removal meeting, and pointing out 
generally the evils that would result from a change in the 
location of the seat of justice of the county. 

The committee of correspondence, on behalf of the Re- 
movalists, consisted of the following named gentlemen, viz. : 
Minshall Painter, David Lyons, Nathan H. Baker, James J. 
Lewis, Joseph Edwards, William B. Lindsay, Dr. Joseph Wilson, 
James Ogden, John G. Henderson, George G. Baker, Thos. H. 
Speakman, Henry Haldeman, Jr., and Dr. George Smith. 
Soon after the publication of the anti-removal address, this 
commitee published a reply, criticising without much leniency, 
every position that had been taken by their opponents. The 
anti-removal committee had been particularly unfortunate in 
over-estimating the cost of new public buildings, or rather the 
difference between the cost of a new jail at Chester, and a 
court-house and jail at the new site. The removal committee 
happened to be in possession of the exact cost of a large and 
well built court-house that had been recently erected at Holi- 
daysburg, the facts connected with which were attested by one 
of our most respectable citizens. These facts could not be con- 
troverted, and consequently the appeal that had been made by 
the anti-removal committee to the pockets of the tax-payers of 
the County, proved an utter failure, and the affairs of the re- 
movalists were placed in a better position than before the con- 
troversy between the two committees commenced. A public 
meeting was subsequently held by the anti-removalists at the 
Black Horse, and an effort made to organize the party, but it 
was too late to make any headway against the regularly organ- 
ized forces of the removalists. 

The election was held on the 12th of October, 1847, and re- 
sulted in a majority of 752 votes in favor of removal. The 
following table exhibits the vote in the several townships: 



1847.] 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 


Aston, . . 


For 
Removal. 

89 


Against 
Removal 

129 


Bethel, .... 


10 


72 


Birmingham, 


62 


21 


Chester, .... 


50 


319 


Upper Chichester, 


4 


72 


Lower Chichester, 


12 


92 


Concord, 


83 


70 


Darby, .... 

Upper Darby, 

Edgmont, .... 


55 
168 
150 


91 

32 




Haverford, 


147 


3 


Marple, .... 
Middletown, 


124 
223 


13 
17 


Newtown, . 


118 


1 


Upper Providence, 


129 


2 


Nether Providence, 


113 


30 


Radnor, 


152 


40 


Ridley, 
Springfield, 


19 
114 


152 
10 


Thornbury, 
Tinicum, 


116 

2 


5 
19 




1942 


1190 


Voted in favor of remo^ 


i^al, . . 


1942 


Voted against removal, 


. . . 


1190 



373 



Majority in favor of removal 



752 



When the result of the election became known, the majority 
being so large, no one then thought of making even an effort to de- 
feat the will of the people thus emphatically expressed. A cer- 
tain act, however, had been recently passed by the Legislature, 
giving the citizens of each township a right to decide by ballot, 
whether spirituous liquors should be sold in their respective 
townships. This act had been declared unconstitutional by the 
Supreme Court, and their being some similarity between that 
act and the Removal Act, its constitutionality also became 
questionable. The Commissioners felt unwilling to proceed with 
the erection of the new buildings until the constitutional ques- 
tion should be decided, or a confirmatory act should be passed. 
The friends of removal at once determined to ask the Legis- 
lature to pass a confirmatory act, not dreaming that a propo- 
sition so reasonable and just would meet with the least resistance 
from any quarter. Li this they were mistaken, for their appli- 
cation was met by a remonstrance from a large number of anti- 



.374 HISTORY OP DELAWARE COUNTY. [1848. 

removalists, and other means were resorted to by a few of theniy 
to defeat the measure, which it may be proper at this time to 
forbear to mention. 

The question had been decided, upon the plan that they had 
accepted as the proper one, and had the removalists been de- 
feated, the erection of a new jail at Chester would have been 
acquiesced in by them without a murmur. Under such circum- 
stances, the author has never been able to see how the gentle- 
men who continued their opposition to removal, after a vote had 
been taken on the question, could reconcile their conduct to 
the injunction, " as ye would that men should do to you, do ye 
also to them likewise." 

The Hon. Sketchley Morton still represented the County in 
the House of Representatives, and acting in good faith, no diffi- 
culty was experienced in the passage of a confirmatory bill in 
that body. But in the Senate, it was soon discovered that our 
representative, Mr. Williamson, then Speaker of that body, was 
hostile to the bill, and that the services of other members of the 
Senate from distant parts of the Commonwealth had in some 
way been secured to make speeches against it, and to aid in its 
defeat. Among these was the late Governor Johnson. The bill 
was accordingly defeated in the Senate. 

After this unfair and unjust treatment, the removalists at 
once resorted to the Supreme Court, to test the constitutionality 
of the Removal Act, under which the vote had been taken. Here 
they were met by counsel employed by the anti-removalists ; 
but before any action had been taken by the Court upon the 
main question, certain signs in the political horizon indicated 
that it might become a matter of some consequence to certain 
politicians, that so large a body of voters as the removalists of 
Delaware County should be pacified, after the treatment their 
fair and just bill had received in the Senate. A sudden change 
appears to have been effected in the views of certain Senators,, 
on the grave question of the right of the majority to rule, and 
information was accordingly conveyed to the leading removalists, 
that a confirmatory act could then be passed. One was passed; 
but as the anti-removalists had to be consulted, the action of 
the Senate of Pennsylvania resulted in the monstrosity that 
here follows, which was only concurred in by the House, because 
nothing better could be had : — 

" An Act relative to the removal of the Seat of Justice in Dela- 
ware County. 

" Section 1. Be it enacted, ^c. That the several provisions of 
an Act entitled 'An Act concerning the removal of the seat of 
justice in Delaware County,' approved March 3d, eighteen hun- 



1849.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 375 

dred and forty-seven, so far as they authorize the removal of the 
seat of justice from the borough of Chester, be, and the same are 
hereby confirmed and made of full force and efi'ect, and when 
the public buildings referred to in said act shall have been com- 
pleted, it shall be the duty of the Court, Sheriff, and other 
officers of said county, to do and perform the things mentioned 
and required to be done and performed in said act. Provided, 
That this act shall not go into effect until a decision shall be 
obtained from the Supreme Court on the validity of said act of 
March third, eighteen hundred and forty-seven. Provided, how- 
ever, that said decision shall be obtained in one year from the 
date of the passage of this act. 

William F. Packer, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

William Williamson, 

S'peaker of the Senate. 

Approved the seventh day of April, one thousand eight hun- 
dred and forty-eight. 

Francis R, Shunk." 

The Supreme Court soon closed their sitting in Philadelphia, 
and no further effort was made to comply with the ridiculous 
provisions of the confirmatory law till the winter term following. 
It was now apparent, from the various motions of the counsel of 
the anti-removalists, that delay was a main object with his 
clients; but eventually, with much perseverance, the question 
was argued by the late Joseph Gr. Clarkson, the counsel of the 
removalists, and the opinion of the Court delivered just before 
the close of the year specified in the act. This opinion was a 
full confirmation of the constitutionality of the Removal Law. 

The Commissioners, in pursuance of the Removal Act, very 
soon purchased a tract of forty-eight acres of land from Sarah 
Briggs, adjoining the County farm attached to the house for the 
support and employment of the poor, for the sum of $5760. On 
this a town was laid out, and many lots were immediately sold, 
realizing a great profit to the County. It was at first intended 
to call the town Providence, but in consideration of the great 
number of places bearing that name, the name of Media, sug- 
gested by Minshall Painter as a proper one, was adopted, and 
inserted in the Act of Incorporation. The town was laid out by 
Joseph Fox, Esq. 

The location of the public buildings increased the value of the 
adjacent land. In this increase in value, the adjoining property 
belonging to the county, on which the old Alms-house was located, 
shared very fully ; so that it soon became evident, that by dis- 
posing of this property with the old buildings, (which were not 



376 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1850. 

well adapted to the purpose for which they had been erected,) 
the County could be provided with a better farm in another local- 
ity, and with new buildings, very much better calculated for the 
accommodation of the paupers. The old property was accord- 
ingly disposed of by the Directors of the Poor, at the price that 
has been mentioned. In the mean time, the present County farm 
in Middletown was purchased, and the present neat and sub- 
stantial Alms-house erected. 

Prior to the passage of the act authorizing a vote to be taken 
on the subject of the removal of the seat of justice, several 
routes had been experimentally surveyed through the County, 
for a railroad to West Chester. In adopting the present loca- 
tion for the road, the site of the new County town doubtless had 
a material influence. On the other hand, the completion of the 
road, rendering access to Philadelphia easy and cheap, has aided 
in the rapid growth and improvement of Media. 

Since 1845, up to the breaking out of the present disastrous 
civil war, the improvement of the County, and the increase in 
the substantial means of its citizens, have been rapid beyond any 
former period. During that period, the Delaware County Turn- 
pike, the Darby Plank Road, the West Chester Turnpike or 
Plank Road, the Darby and Chester Plank Road, and several 
less important artificial roads, were constructed ; a large propor- 
tion of the money necessary therefor being furnished by citizens 
of Delaware County. These improvements became necessary on 
account of the improved condition of the farms throughout the 
County, and the increase in the number and extent of our manu- 
facturing establishments. The completion of the West Chester 
Railroad, and the Baltimore Central Road, through the county, 
to Oxford, in Chester County, has given a great impulse to 
business in the districts of the County through which they pass, 
and even now, in this period of our great calamity, the trans- 
portation on these roads is highly encouraging, as affording 
evidence of the improvement of the northern and western parts 
of the County. 

It had been the intention of the author to conclude his narra- 
tive with a notice of the part that has been taken by citizens of 
this County in suppressing the present rebellion ; but he finds it 
impossible to obtain sufficient data to enable him to make out 
anything like a full and fair account of all that has been done. 
He has, therefore, been obliged to abandon the task; but he 
regrets this less, because he was obliged to put the work in press 
while the great struggle was still in progress. He will venture 
to affirm, however, that in the number of men furnished to the 
army of the Union; in the amount of money provided for the 
support of the families of those enlisted and in service; and in 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 377 

the quantity of clothing and provisions supplied gratuitously for 
the comfort of the soldiers, and particularly for the sick and 
wounded, (the latter principally by the ladies), Delaware County 
has not been surpassed by any community of the same extent in 
any part of the Union. 

Our narrative will close with a notice of the several townships, 
and other municipal districts into which the County has been 
divided. 

CHESTER. 

The minuteness of the details already given, both in respect 
to the borough and township of Chester, leaves but little to be 
added. Though the change of the name from Upland to Chester 
was uncalled for and in bad taste, it is in one respect appropriate 
— this town bears the same character of venerable antiquity to 
all other towns in Pennsylvania which the city of Chester bears 
to other towns in England. That city occupies the site of an old 
Roman military post, and has its name from castra, the Latin 
for camp ; a circumstance that probably did not occur to Friend 
Pearson when he selected a new name for our venerable town, 
" in remembrance of the city from whence he came." 

Numerous memorials can be yet pointed out within the borough 
and township of Chester. An attempt has been made to pre- 
serve the appearance of old St. Paul's Church, by a lithograph 
from a rather imperfect daguerreotype, taken while the edifice 
was still standing. It was a small building, and originally the 
belfry, built of brick, stood some twelve feet from the church 
building. This was removed in 1835 and a belfry erected on 
the old church. 

St. Paul's Church is still in possession of two chalices with 
their salvers, one of which was presented by Queen Anne, and 
bears the inscription, " Annse Reginse." It is probable that this 
royal present to the church was received by the hands of the 
missionaries first sent to Pennsylvania by the " Society for pro- 
pagating the Gospel in foreign parts." 

The obituary mementoes in the churchyard do not go back to 
so early a date as might have been expected. The stone erected 
to the memory of Charles and Francis Brooks, bears this inscrip- 
tion : 

" Here lyeth y® Body of Charles Brooks^ 

Who Dyed 

Also Francis Brooks who 

Dyed August y" Q''^ 1704 Aged 50." 

The next oldest stone is thus dedicated to 

"Robert French obt. Sept. the 9''' 1713." 

^ Charles Brooks was alive in 1684. 



378 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

The massive and unique stone that commemorates the death of 
James Sandelandes, and his wife Ann, a beautiful engraving of 
which forms the frontispiece of the published Record of Upland 
Court, was not set up in the churchyard, but in early times 
formed the front of the pew of the Sandelandes' family in the 
old church, from whence it was removed to the exterior of 
the church many years since, where it was defaced and broken in 
two pieces. It is now carefully preserved in the vestibule of the 
new St. Paul's Church. The border of the stone is in relief and 
bears this inscription : 

" Here lies interr-d the Bodie of Jambs Sandelandes 
Marchant jn Upland jn Pensilvania who departed This 
MoRTAiL Life April the 12 1692 Aged 56 Years. And his 
WIFE Ann Sandelands." 

The space inside of the margin is divided into two equal 
parts. One of these is occupied with the initials of the deceased, 
coat of arms, and an ornamental space for a motto, while the 
other bears rather a profusion of the emblems of mortality ; all 
elaborately executed in relief. The dividing space bears the 
following words : 

"VIVE MEMOR LETHI 
HPUGIT HORA." 

The tomb of John Morton has a place within the old church- 
yard of St. Paul. It is a plain marble obelisk about nine feet 
in height. The east side bears the following inscription : 

" Dedicated to the memory of John Morton, a member of 
the first American Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, 
assembled in New York 1765, and of the next Congress assem- 
bled in Philadelphia in 1774, and various other public stations, 

Born A. D. 1724. 

Died April 1777." 

On the north side of the obelisk the inscription runs as fol- 
lows : 

" John Morton being censured by some of his friends for his 
boldness in giving the casting vote for the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, his prophetic spirit dictated from his death-bed the 
following message to them: 

" Tell them they will live to see the hour when they shall 
acknowledge it to have been the most glorious service I have ever 
rendered to my country.' " 

The other sides are occupied with historical events connected 
with the Declaration of Independence. 

A few years since a number of very ancient buildings stood 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 379 

on Front street, and some still remain there and on Filbert street. 
The Friends' Meeting-house, which, during several generations, 
was known as " the Old Assembly House," was, doubtless, among 
the oldest. The time and the manner of its erection has already 
been given. It was taken down a few years since, and its site 
has since been used as a coal yard. The "Bake House" and 
granaries erected by Jasper Yeates, about the year 1700, or 
perhaps earlier, stood a little lower down on the creek. There 
are still standing in that vicinity several dwellings, and other 
buildings, that bear evident marks of great antiquity. Some of 
these were doubtless built prior to the year 1700. The Yates, 
or Logan House, on Filbert street fronting the Delaware, is said 
to have been built that year. It is a substantial two-storied 
brick house, and though divested of some of its ancient embel- 
lishments, still makes a very comfortable dwelling. The dwell- 
ing of the late Commodore Porter was erected by David Lloyd 
about the year 1721. It was occupied by him, and after his 
death by his widow, many years. 

The Court-house, built in 1724, is a very substantial building, 
and now serves as a town hall for the borough. Tradition has 
handed down to us the following as having happened during the 
building of this Court-house, or some other public building at 
Chester : 

During the progress of the work a young lady was observed 
to pass and repass the building daily, dressed in very gay attire. 
After this promenade had been continued for some time, one of 
the workmen, less mannerly than his associates, upon the appear- 
ance of the lady, called out : 

" In silk and scarlet walks many a harlot." , 

The young lady feeling indignant at the insult, promptly re- 
plied : 

" By line and rule works many a fool." 

Until a very recent period, no religious sect had a place of 
worship in Chester except the Friends, (who now have two,) and 
the Episcopalians. In 1834, the Methodists erected a small 
church building, which was much enlarged and improved in 1846. 
The Catholic church (St. Michael's) was dedicated in 1843, and 
that of the Presbyterians ten years later. The African Metho- 
dists also have a small place of worship in Chester. 

It has been mentioned that the first newspaper, called the 
Post Boy^ was published at Chester on the 8th of November, 
1819. Joseph M. G. Lescure purchased the Post Boy estab- 
lishment, and changed the name of the paper to the Upland 
Union in 1825, which was published under that name until 1852. 



380 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

In 1827, the Weekly Visitor, a third paper, was started by 
William Russell, Jr., and edited by Strange N. Palmer, and af- 
terwards by Thomas Eastman, but was discontinued in 1833. 
Mr. Y. S. Walter, who had commenced the publication of the 
Delaware Gounty Republican at Darby, on the first of August, 
1833, removed his establishment to Chester some years after- 
wards, where it is still continued. In 1835, the publication of a 
sheet called the Delaware County Democrat, was commenced 
and continued a year or •two. Since that time several other 
ephemeral papers have been published. 

Up to about the period of the removal of the seat of justice 
to Media, the growth of Chester had been remarkably slow. 
From that time the improvement of the place has been as re- 
markably rapid. The adjacent grounds have been laid out with 
streets, and many buildings erected within the past few years. 
Public attention has been called to the advantages of the place 
for manufacturing purposes, and a large number of manufacto- 
ries of different kinds have been erected. Chester now bids fair 
to become a manufacturing town of no mean pretensions. 

Gas was introduced into Chester in 1856, since which time 
the town has been well supplied with that necessary article, but 
water has not yet been introduced. 

Upland, the neatest manufacturing village in the County, and 
perhaps in the State, occupies the site of the ancient Chester 
mills. But little remains about the premises to connect the 
place with olden times, except the dwelling occupied by Caleb 
Pusey while he had charge of these early erected mills. This 
humble mansion of the active partner of the concern occupies a 
position upon the present race-bank, not very distant from the 
site of the first erected mill. It was built at two different times 
— the older part doubtless very soon after the erection of the 
first mill. It is now the humblest mansion in the village. 

Upland has sprung into existence within a few years past. In 
1845, John P. Crozer, Esq., purchased the mill property from the 
heirs of Richard Flower, deceased. The place now contains 
three large cotton factories, with unusually neat and comfortable 
dwellings for all the operatives, and the necessary mechanics ; 
the elegant mansions of the proprietor, his two sons and others ; 
a neat and elegant Baptist church, and a well finished public 
school-house. 

Upland Normal Listitute, erected by Mr. Crozer in 1857, is 
located on an eminence south of the village of Upland, The 
building is very commodious, and was erected at a cost of $45,000. 
The objects of the Institution, as set forth by its founder, " are 
to furnish at a reduced cost, a comprehensive, thorough, and 
practical education, for business, teaching, college, and any lite- 
rary and professional pursuit." 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 381 

The Indian name of the place now occupied by Chester was 
Meeoponacka, that of Chester creek, Mecopanackan. 

CHICHESTER. 

Both townships bearing this name will be considered together, 
as they both constituted but one municipal district for many 
years after the establishment of Penn's government. In 1722, 
the terms Upper and Lower Chichester were in use, but they 
were then assessed together as one township. In 1735, they 
were assessed separately. 

The original township was named after Chichester, an ancient 
city in the county of Sussex, England. That city was formerly 
called Oissancester, that is, the city of Cissa, because it was built 
by Cissa, the king of the South Saxons.^ On the 20th of April, 
1682, at the request of the inhabitants of Marcus Hook, Gover- 
nor Markham granted them authority to change the name of 
their town to Chichester. This is the first appearance of the 
name in our records. On the 27th of the 4th mo., (June) 1683, 
TVilliam Hewes was appointed constable for " Chichester liberty/," 
which probably meant the township of Chichester, as it had been 
laid out by Charles Ashcom. 

'^Marcus Hook is doubtless a corruption of Maarte-hook, the 
name of an Indian chief who probably resided at that place. "^ 
It at first was corrupted to Marreties Hoeck, and then to its 
present name, which the authority of two Governors has failed 
permanently to change to " Chichester." The author has 
in his possession the copy of a draft of "Chichester Town," 
made by Jacob Taylor, Surveyor-General. It is without date, 
but must have been executed in the very early part of the past 
century — probably in 1701, the time when a grant of privileges 
from Penn was made to the town. (See Appendix, Note E.) 
In this early draft are laid down Broad street, Market place, 
Discord lane ; about a dozen dwellings, mostly fronting the river, 
and the names of a number of the lot owners. 

Some of the dwellings at Marcus Hook bear the same vene- 
rable appearance as the oldest in Chester, and are doubtless co- 
temporary in age. Some late writers confine Finland of the 
Swedish government to a space between Marcus Hook and Ches- 
ter, but this space is too limited for the Finnish settlements. 
They doubtless extended into New Castle County.^ 

The growth of Marcus Hook has been exceedingly slow. 
Since the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad 

1 Phillips' New World of Words, (1671;. 

2 Ferris' Early Settlements on the Delaware, 135. Hudde's Report, 439. Mr. 
Armstrong regards Marettie and Marcus as distinct titles, neither being a corruption 
of the other. See his Note, Upland Court Rec. 135. 

3 See Hudde's Report, 429. 



382 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

was constructed, a village has sprung up near that road, and 
some improvements have been made in the old part of the town. 
During the fishing season large quantities of shad and herring 
are sold here as well as at Chester. 

The first establishment of St. Martin's Church at Marcus 
Hook has already been noticed. It did not bear the name of 
St. Martin's till 1760, when that name was suggested in inci- 
dental commemoration of Walter Martin, the donor of the lot 
upon which it stands. In 1745 the first erected frame church 
was replaced by a brick edifice, which in its turn, after under- 
going various modifications, was replaced by the present credit- 
able building in 1846. In this church-yard is the tomb of 
Elizabeth Smith, who was born in 1699 and died in 1802, aged 
103 years. She saw parts of three centuries. 

Besides the Episcopal church there is a neat Baptist church 
constituted in 1789, and a Methodist church located at Marcus 
Hook, and two Friends' meeting-houses in Upper Chichester. 

BETHEL. 

Bethel is the smallest of the original townships, and is yet 
the smallest township in the County except Tinicum. The 
name of the township, for anything that is known to the con- 
trary, was imported directly from Palestine. The word is said 
to signify "House of God," Beth being the name of the second 
Hebrew letter, which is made after the fashion of a Hebrew 
house. ^ Bethel Hamlet had an existence at a very early date, 
and was probably composed of the first rudely constructed 
dwellings of the early immigrants, who built them near together 
for safety. 

In 1683 a constable was appointed for " Concord liberty." 
This included Bethel, which is first named as a township that 
year. The two townships constituted one municipal district for 
several years, and it is difficult to ascertain the precise time 
when Bethel was organized separately. There are two churches 
in Bethel, both belonging to the Methodists. 

CONCORD. 

This township was originally laid out in a rectangular form, 
and the author has not learned when or for what reason the 
irregular portion to the S. W. was appended. The name pro- 
bably had its origin in the harmonious feelings of some of the 
first settlers. 

The land for a Friends' meeting at Concord and a grave-yard 
was conveyed, or rather leased to trustees by John Mendenhall 

1 Philip's New World of Words. 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 383 

in 1697, they paying "one pepper corn yearly forever." A 
meeting.-house was erected that year or the next. This meet- 
ing-house was destroyed by fire about the year 1787. In the 
apartments in which the congregation assembled for worship 
there was no place for fire ; but before meeting assembled in 
cold weather, those who desired to make themselves comfortable, 
resorted to fires made in open fire-places in each end of the 
attic. From one of these the building took fire. The present 
large meeting-house supplies the place of the one destroyed, and 
since the division of the Society a second has been erected on 
the same lot. 

Though an Episcopal organization had existed in Concord 
from the commencement of the eighteenth century, it was not 
till 1727 that effective measures were adopted for the erection 
of a place of worship. From a draft found among the papers of 
Isaac Taylor, County Surveyor, it would appear that a church 
lot, containing one acre, was surveyed in 1724, but from an 
entry in the vestry book it may be inferred that no purchase 
was made till 1727, when, probably, a temporary church edifice 
was erected. A "brick end" was built to the church in the 
year 1773, partly out of the proceeds of a lottery. The present 
church edifice of St. John's was erected in 1883. 

In 1729 a tract of land was purchased by Thomas Willcox 
from Thomas Jones, on which Ivy Mills now stand. It is pro- 
bable that the first paper mill was erected that year, or very 
shortly afterwards. In 1739 Thomas Willcox released one-half 
his interest in a small piece of the land purchased from Jones, 
upon which the mill had been erected, to one Thomas Brown, 
and took that gentleman into partnership with him in the busi- 
ness of making and selling paper — Brown to furnish one-half of 
the capital and to be* at one-half of the expense, but to receive 
only two-fifths of the profits. Thomas Willcox received a larger 
share of the profits on account of his knowledge of the business, 
but he covenants to "use the utmost of his endeavours to teach 
and instruct the said Thomas Brown in the trade or mystery of 
a Paper Maker." Shortly afterwards, Thomas Willcox pur- 
chased out the interest of Brown, since which the business of 
paper making has been continued by his descendants, of the 
name of Willcox, to the present time. The business is now 
mainly conducted at Glen Mills, only a few hands being now 
employed at the old Ivy Mills, where paper is still exclusively 
made by hand. The paper used in this work was made at the 
Glen Mills, and was furnished by the present firm of James M. 
Willcox & Co. — the map paper being the product of the old Ivy 
Mills — the second place at which paper was manufactured in 
Pennsylvania, the first mill being that of the Rittenhouses near 
Germantown. 



384 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

Ooneordville, at which the Friends' meeting-house is situated, 
is a beautifully located village. A building designed for a board- 
ing-school was erected at that place the present year. 

DARBY. 

Both Darby and Upper Darby constituted but one township 
up to 1786, though separated previously to that time for many 
purposes. Under Penn's government, the settlement of Darby 
commenced in 1682, and progressed for a time more rapidly 
than any other settlement in the County. It is first recognized 
as a municipal district in 1683, when Thomas Worth was ap- 
pointed constable by the Court. The ancient district of Calcon 
Hook was annexed to Darby in 1686. It then contained six 
settlements, viz., those of Morton Mortonson, Peter Peterson, 
Hance Urin, Swan Boone, Hance Boon, and Matthias Natsilas. 

Perhaps the opinion is universal, that our ancestors, who came 
from the county of Derby, in England, corrupted the spelling of 
the name of their former place of residence when they, in kind 
remembrance, adopted it for their home in America. The cor- 
ruption, if it be one, was effected in England before our ances- 
tors migrated to America. In the "New World of Words," 
published in 1671, Darby and Darhyshire are given, but not 
Derby nor Derbyshire ; and in the certificates brought over by 
early Friends, it is almost uniformly spelled with a instead of e. 
The author of the work referred to, makes the name of the 
English town a contraction of the word Derwentby, " because it 
standeth on the river Derwent." This would make the proper 
spelling of the name Derby ; but it is clear that our ancestors 
brought the name with them as it was generally written when 
they migrated to America, and so it has remained, notwithstand- 
ing some fastidious persons have made efforts from time to time 
to change it. 

Some specimens of legislation by the early town meetings of 
Darby have been given. The following is another specimen : — 

" Agreed at a town meeting 1697, that all plantations, y® 
lands not Joyning upon the road, that four of the Neighbours 
shall be chosen to lay out a convenient way as they shall see 
meet to the next convenient road, and being so done, shall stand 
firm and not be blocked up with trees or plantations. 
" Signed on behalf of the 
" Town by 

" Tho. Worth." 

And again, in 1715, the town meeting, after having directed 
a tax of a half penny in the pound to be levied on the township, 
enacted the following humane ordinance : — 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



385 



" That travellers having nothing to defray their charges at the 
public Inn, shall be allowed ten pence a night (if they are first 
allowed by the overseers of the poor.)" 

In 1747, the township was divided by the authority of a town- 
ship meeting for every purpose except the support of the poor. 
The dividing line of this temporary division was farther south, 
(at least in part,) than that which now separates the two town- 
ships. A permanent division of the township was agreed upon 
at a toAvnship meeting in 1786, and the line recommended by 
the meeting was confirmed by the court as the dividing line be- 
tween the two townships ; the part north of the line taking the 
name of Upper Darhy. 

There are now in the possession of John Andrews, of Darby, 
the grave-stones of Edmund Cartlidge, the early Quaker im- 
migrant. That portion of the head-stone intended to stand 
above ground is represented in the annexed cut. It will be re- 
membered how pertinaciously _^„,, , ^_^ ^^ 

Friends, for many years, m- /^ '^^— ^ ;--i5. — ^-^. ,|] 

sisted upon the removal of all 
grave-stones. Many were put 
out of sight by being buried, 
and those under notice were 
only recently disinterred in 
digging a grave in Friends' 
burial-ground at Darby. The 
elaborate carving on this me- 
mento shows that Friends had 
run into a little extravagance 
in the erection of monuments 
to their dead, to restrain 
which there was a real neces- 
sity of some action on the 
part of the Society. If, however, the only object of Friends 
was to restrain extravagance in this matter, it is really difficult 
to see the propriety of the action of the meetings that resulted 
in the exclusion of every mark set up to indicate the graves of 
their departed members. 

The mills at Darby were erected about the year 1695 or 1696. 
In a deed executed in 1697, they are mentioned as " three 
water grist mills and fulling mill." It is not known that a full- 
ing mill of an earlier date had been established in Pennsylvania. 
For some time after the flour mill at Darby was first estab- 
lished, the boulting was not done in the mill, but some distance 
from it, and probably on the opposite side of the creek. It ap- 
pears to have been a separate business, and was carried on by 
parties not concerned in the mill. 
25 




386 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

Till within a few years past, the town of Darby presented but 
few features of recent improvements. The construction of a 
plank road, and subsequently a passenger railroad connecting it 
with the city, has infused new life into the venerable hamlet, 
and has surrounded it with many superb country residences of 
wealthy Philadelphians. Still a few old dwellings remain in the 
low part of the town, that would probably date back nearly a 
century and a half. 

Sharon Boarding School for young ladies, near Darby, estab- 
lished by the late John Jackson, is a large building, well located, 
and is provided with every comfort and convenience proper for 
such an establishment. 

"The Burd Orphan Asylum of St. Stephen's Church," now 
being built, when completed, will be the most costly edifice in 
Delaware County. It is located on the West Chester road, in 
Upper Darby. This institution will be established in pursuance 
of the last will and testament of Eliza Howard Burd, the widow 
of Edward Shippen Burd, in honor of whom it was named. The 
testatrix gives to the institution two-tenths of the residuary 
estate left to her by her husband, and makes it the sole residuary 
legatee of her own. The endowment is munificent, and it is 
understood to be ample for all the contemplated objects of the 
institution. As pointed out in the will of Mrs. Burd, " the ob- 
jects of the said Asylum shall be, to maintain, educate, and at a 
suitable age and time, (to be judged of and determined by those 
to whose management I have entrusted the Asylum,) to place 
out to be instructed in proper employments, first, the white 
female orphan children of legitimate birth, of the age of not 
less than four years and not more than eight years, who shall 
have been baptized in the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the 
city of Philadelphia ; secondly, the same class of children, bap- 
tized in the same Church, in the State of Pennsylvania ; and 
thirdly, all other white female orphan children of legitimate 
birth, not less than four years of age and not more than eight 
years, without respect to any other description or qualification 
whatever, except that at all times, and in every case, the orphan 
children of clergymen of the Protestant Church shall have the 
preference. * * *" Mrs. Burd further directs "that in the 
building erected for the Asylum, there shall be an apartment 
prepared and set apart as a Chapel, to be kept sacred for the 
worship of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in con- 
formity with the rites and ceremonies of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church," and she positively enjoins, "that all children 
received into the Asylum shall be faithfully instructed, as a 
part of their education, in the principles of the precious Gospel 
of her God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, as they are held and 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 387 

taught by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, 
and that no other system of religion shall be taught there ; and 
moreover, that all the worship held therein shall be according to 
the ritual of said Church and no other." 

But one-half of the estate devised and bequeathed can be ap- 
propriated to the purchase of grounds and the erection of build- 
ings, under any pretence whatever, the balance to be invested, 
as directed in the will, for the support of the Asylum. The 
control and management of the institution is entrusted to the 
Rector, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Stephen's Church; 
with the Bishop, for the time being, of the diocese that includes 
Philadelphia, as a perpetual visitor. 

Kellyville is an extensive manufacturing village on Darby 
Creek, where it is crossed by the Delaware County Turnpike, and 
West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad. It has a population 
of about 500. The Catholic Church (St. Charles) at this place 
is a neat and substantial building. From a short distance below 
Kellyville, for more than a mile up Darby Creek, there is almost 
one continuous village. Between these points, including Mr. 
Charles Kelly's large cotton factory, there are six manufactories 
of cotton, or of cotton and wool, and two of paper. 

Clifton is a pleasant village at the intersection of the Turn- 
pike and Springfield road. On the high ground west of Clifton, 
overlooking the Delaware, is located Clifton Hall^ a private In- 
sane Hospital, under the direction of Dr. Robert A. Given. It is 
a commodious building (90 by 64 feet), and occupies a healthful 
and commanding position. 

The Friends' Meeting-house at Darby is a large and substan- 
tial building. Another meeting-house was erected in Upper 
Darby, after the division of the Society, by those termed Or- 
thodox. The Methodists have one church in Darby and one in 
Upper Darby, and the Presbyterians two churches in Darby 
township. There is also a New Jerusalem Church in Upper 
Darby, the only one of that denomination in the County. 

PROVIDENCE. 

From Chester, settlements very soon extended into Providence, 
there being at first but one township of that name. At the 
October Court, 1683, "the inhabitance of Providence make ap- 
plication for a highway to the town of Chester," which is the 
first appearance of the name in the county records. The name, 
doubtless, had its origin with some of the early immigrants, and 
was given as a manifestation of their gratitude for their safe 
deliverance from the perils they had encountered in crossing the 
ocean. It was not organized as a township till 1684, when 



388 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

Thomas Nossiter was appointed constable. The division between 
the townships of Upper and Nether Providence is laid down in 
Holme's map, and each is marked with its appropriate name. 
In 1686 Upper Providence is recognized as a township by the 
appointment of a constable, but up to 1722 both townships were 
assessed as one municipality, and at that time the whole number 
of taxables in both was only forty. 

Todmorden, formerly Qi-ookville, situated on Ridley Creek, 
chiefly in Nether Providence, is a manufacturing village of some 
note. There are two large woolen factories at this place, and 
two on the creek a short distance above, in Upper Providence, 
the property of Samuel Bancroft, and conducted by him. The 
whole together constitutes one of the largest woolen manufac- 
turing establishments in the United States. 

Media, the present seat of justice of Delaware County, located 
chiefly in Upper Providence township, has been noticed else- 
where. Besides a Presbyterian, an Episcopalian and a Method- 
ist church, there are two well-established boarding-schools at 
this place — one for each sex. The classics are taught at the 
boys' school, while in the female seminary, known as Brooke 
Hall, young ladies are thoroughly instructed in all the useful 
and ornamental branches. Chestnut Grove House, beautifully 
located near the railroad depot, is a very large and tastefully 
fitted up summer boarding-house owned by a company. The 
town is supplied with water, but not as yet, with gas. 

Not long after the removal of the seat of justice to Media, 
the establishment of the "Upland Union" newspaper was re- 
moved from t^hester to that place and continued there about two 
years. In 1855 "The American and Media Advertiser " was 
commenced, and with its name changed to " Delaware County 
American" has been continued to the present time. It was at 
first edited by Cooper and Vernon, but for a year or two past 
by the latter partner alone. 

RIDLEY. 

Under the government of the Duke of liTork, the municipal 
district of " Calkoen's Hoek," embraced not only the neck of 
land known by that name, but also Amers Land, or Amos Land 
and Tinicum. In 1682, John Simcock located one of his large 
purchases of land, (2875 acres,) immediately north of Amer's 
Land and named it Ridley, after the place in Cheshire, England, 
from whence he emigrated. This large tract, for the most part, 
remained unimproved, and hence the old district was for a time 
continued ander the name of " Amos Land and Oalcoone Hook," 
In 1686 Calcon Hook was annexed to Darby township, and the 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 389 

year following Amos Land and Tinicum were included in a new 
township, then first organized, named Ridley. The name was 
sometimes applied to the creek before the township was or- 
ganized. 

Caleon Hook is a corruption of the Dutch name Kalkoen Soek, 
that is, Turkey Point, Kalkoen being the Dutch word for Tur- 
key. It was probably applied to the place on account of the large 
numbers of wild turkeys that frequented it. The name Amers, 
or Amos Land, is said to have originated from the circumstance, 
that in very early times it was the residence of a celebrated 
nurse — amma being the Swedish for nurse. Amos Land ex- 
tended about a mile north from Darby Creek, and westward 
from the Mucanippitas nearly to Stone Creek. Oalcon Hook 
was east of the Mucanippitas, and extended nearly up to the 
post road, but not to Darby Creek above its junction with Cobb's 
Creek. 

The first railroad in the United States was built in Kidley 
township in 1806, by the late Thomas Leiper, for the trans- 
portation of stone from his quarries on Crum Creek to his land- 
ing on Ridley Creek, a distance of about one mile. The ascents 
were graded inclined planes, and the superstructure was made 
of white oak with cross-ties and string pieces. The cars or trucks 
were very similar to those now in use, the wheels being made of 
cast iron with flanges. The line of the road can still be seen. 
This railroad was superseded by the Leiper Canal, which passed 
from the upper quarries down Crum Creek to the landing, and 
was built by the Hon. George G. Leiper, the eldest son of 
Thomas Leiper, in 1828, and continued to be used till 1852, 
when it, in turn, was superseded by the present railroad.^ 

The Darby Creek Ferry House, for many years a tavern, 
bears the marks of antiquity. The figures 1698 are carved on 
the inner side of the mantel-piece, of the northwest end of the 
building, and no doubt indicate the date of its erection. It is 
built of white cedar logs, flattened. Between this end and the 
other wooden end, there is a space built up with stone. Through 
this space, and between the two wooden ends of the present 
building, the road formerly passed to the ferry. 

Leiperville is a small village on the post road, where it is 
crossed by Crum Creek. 

1 Previous to engaging in the railroad enterprise, Mr. Thomas Leiper employed a 
millwright from Scotland, named Somerville, to laj a track sixty yards in length at a 
grade of one inch and a-half to the yard, he having seen a similar one in Scotland or 
England. This experimental track was constructed on a vacant lot in the Northern 
Liberties of Philadelphia, and when the day of trial came, a large concourse of people 
assembled to witness the experiment. After having loaded the car with all the 
weights that could be procured from the neighboring hay-scales, wagers were offered 
to any amount that no horse could move it to the summit; but when the word was 
given, the horse moved off with ease amid the plaudits of the assembled multitude. 



390 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

There are several manufacturing establishments in Ridley, 
and large quantities of stone are annually quarried there and 
sent to Philadelphia and elsewhere. 

The churches in Ridley are a Presbyterian church, erected 
about the year 1818, and rebuilt a few years since ; a Baptist 
church constituted in 1830, and another erected by a sect 
called Bible Christians. 

SPRINGFIELD. 

Gait, in his life of Benjamin West, ascribes the name of this 
township to the fact that Thomas Pearson, the maternal grand- 
father of the great painter, discovered a large spring of water 
in the first field he cleared for cultivation. Unfortunately for 
this story, Thomas Pearson first settled in Marple township, 
where he continued to reside during his life. On Holme's map 
it is marked Sprinfeld Town^ but the author is possessed of 
no knowledge either in respect to the origin of that name or of 
the existence of any particular reason for adopting the present 
name of the township. 

On the road leading from Springfield Meeting-house to 
Chester, stands the house in which West the painter was born. 
It is a substantial hipped roofed edifice built of cut stone. Ex- 
cept in the removal of the old fashioned paint-eaves, the build- 
ing has undergone very little change. The room in the north- 
west corner on the first floor is pointed out as that in which the 
great artist drew his first breath. 

There are several manufacturing establishments in Spring- 
field. Those at Heyville are chiefly employed in making woolen 
yarn, while those at Wallingford manufacture cotton goods. 
Beatty's edge tool manufactory is also located in Springfield. 

The old Springfield Friends' Meeting-house, taken down some 
years since, though built in 1738, presented a venerable appear- 
ance. An effort has been made to preserve its general aspect 
and contrast it with the present edifice in the annexed lithograph. 

It does not appear that Springfield was fully organized as a 
township prior to 1686, though Robert Taylor, one of the first 
settlers, had received the appointment of supervisor " from 
Chester Creeke to Croome Creeke," early in 1684. 

Remarkable phenomena are frequently connected with the 
discharge of the electric fluid in the shape of lightning, but it 
rarely occurs that a case is surrounded with so many singular 
circumstances as the one I am about to notice, which happened 
on the 3d of November, 1768, and which is copied, with some 
abridgment, from the Pennsylvania Chronicle. 

"At about seven o'clock in the morning Mr. Samuel Levis's 




BUILT 1851. 



r^^c. 




BUILT 1738. 



DrawalyCP.Tlioley. BowerL&Co.MPMax].a, 

FRIENDS MEETING HOUSES, S PR! NG F I ELD , 1738, 1861. 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 391 

house in Springfield, was struck by lightning. The morning 
was showery, but no thunder was heard nor appearance of light- 
ning seen, either before or after the shock, which produced the 
following efi"ects : It appears first to have descended on the 
chimney, which it entirely leveled to the top of the house, dis- 
persing the bricks to a considerable distance, with great part of 
the roof — fractured the gable end, a stone wall into sundry 
pieces, and penetrated in veins or branches, down to different 
parts of the house. In the closet of a lower room, a glass bot- 
tle with a pound and a half of gunpowder in it, was broken and 
part of the powder thrown about, which did not take fire ; a 
clock near the closet, was overset, and the weights found at 15 feet 
distance from the place where it stood, and considerable damage 
was done to the furniture. In passing into the upper chamber, 
by the stack of chimneys, a gun barrel and some pieces of brass, 
which were in a closet, were melted in several places. 

" A young woman, (Margaret), a daughter of Mr. Levis, hap- 
pening to be near the door of the closet, was struck down, and 
to all appearance, breathless for some time. The father run- 
ning immediately up stairs, where the greatest signs of violence 
appeared, was the first who found his daughter in her melan- 
choly situation, amid the ruins of the shattered wainscoat, and 
an exceedingly strong smell of sulphur. He carried her down 
stairs in his arms and upon examination there appeared signs of 
life. A doctor was immediately sent for, who in vain attempted 
to bleed her, there seeming almost a total stagnation ; but being 
put to a warm bed she bled freely, and revived so as to be able 
to speak, to the inexpressible joy of her distracted parents, her 
whole family and all her friends. In the evening she was able 
to walk up stairs to her chamber. So instantaneous was the 
shock, and so sudden the deprivation of her senses, that she 
could give no account of what happened to her at the juncture. 
When she regained her senses, she complained of much pain 
and of being sore, as she was very much scorched, the lightning 
passing from her head, and as it descended rent her clothes, 
even her garters into a number of pieces, then to her shoes, 
carrying away the upper leather, which was torn into fragments, 
and melting part of one of her silver shoe buckles." 

In 1773 this lady became the wife of the late Thomas Garrett 
of Upper Darby, and was the mother of the late Samuel Garrett 
of the same township. A number of her descendants are still 
living. 

The same Indians, who had their principal wigwam on Chester 
Creek, and will be mentioned under the head of Aston, also had 
a wigwam near Lowne's run, north of the residence of Joseph 
Gibbons, in Springfield, to which they frequently resorted. But 



392 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

the last of the natives who had a home in the County was 
"Indian Nellj," who had her cabin on the farm now owned by 
Garrett Edwards, near the line of the Shipley farm. She .had 
her constant residence there as late as 1810. 

MARPLE. 

How Marple township obtained its name is a matter of un- 
certainty. In many of the early records it is spelled Marpool, 
but Holme, in his map, gives the modern spelling. Marple was 
organized as a township early in 1684. In 1722, the township 
contained but twenty-four taxables. There was no established 
place of worship in the township till Marple Presbyterian 
Church was erected about the year 1833. 

In the winter of 1788, a very tragic affair happened on Darby 
Creek, where it forms the line between Marple and Haverford, 
in the death by drowning of Lydia Hollingsworth, a young lady 
of great worth and beauty, who was under an engagement of 
marriage to David Lewis. The party, consisting of Lewis, Lydia, 
another young lady, with the driver, left the city in the morn- 
ing in a sleigh, and drove out to Joshua Humphrey's, near Haver- 
ford meeting-house. From thence they drove to Newtown ; but 
before they returned the weather moderated, and some rain 
fell, which caused Darby Creek to rise. In approaching the 
ford, (which was that on the road leading from the Presbyterian 
Church to Coopertown,) they were advised not to attempt to 
cross, but were made acquainted with the existence of a tempo- 
rary bridge in the meadows above. They drove to the bridge, 
but the water was rushing over it, and the driver refused to 
proceed; whereupon Lewis took the lines, and missing the 
bridge, plunged ihe whole party into the flood. All were res- 
cued but Lydia, whose body was not found till the next morning. 
The feelings of Lewis can be more readily imagined than de- 
scribed. The young lady was buried at Friends' grave-yard, 
Haverford. In some pathetic rhymes written on the occasion, 
it is stated that 1,700 persons attended her funeral. 

HAVERFORD. 

This township is wholly located in what was known as the 
Welsh Tract, and was the earliest settled of the Welsh Town- 
ships except Merion, in Montgomery County. The name was 
brought over wi'th the first settlers, who came from the vicinity 
of Haverford- West, in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. In early 
times, the name was very frequently written with u instead of v, 
and doubtless had the pronunciation that this change of letters 
would give it. The pronunciation was, at length, corrupted to 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



398 



Harford, a name by which the township was generally known 
within the recollection of many now living. 

The south end of the Friends' Meeting-house, built in 1700, 
in which William Penn preached during his second visit to 
Pennsylvania, is still standing, and is in a good state of preser- 
vation. It has only been modernized in its outside appearance, 
by changing the pitch of the roof, and in substituting wooden 
sash in the windows for those of lead. This was done in the 
year 1800, when the north end was built to supply the place of 
the first erected meeting-house. The timbers are very heavy, 
and have either been hewn or sawed with a whip-saw. The gal- 
lery was originally at the south end of the building. A number 
of the chestnut boards with which it was at first lined are still 
in place. The first interment in the Haverford burial-ground 
was the body of William Sharpus, 9th mo. 19th, 1684. 

There are milestones on the old Haverford or Goshen road 
still standing, which were doubtless imported from England, and 
erected when the road was laid out. 

The Grange. — There is no place in the township of Haver- 
ford, perhaps none in the County, with which so much historical 




CLIFTON HALL AS IT STOOD IN THE YEAR 1770. 

interest is associated as with this ancient seat of grandeur and 
elegance. Henry Lewis, a Welsh Quaker, one of the most staid 
of his sect, selected this spot as his wilderness abode in 1682. 



894 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

He was succeeded by his son Henry, who resided there many 
years. About the middle of the last century, we find the estate, 
then consisting of nearly four hundred acres, owned and occu- 
pied (at least in the summer season) by a Capt. John Wilcox, 
(sometimes spelled Wilcocks,) who erected upon it a mansion, of 
which the annexed cut is an exact representation, and gave it 
the name of " Clifton Hall." Capt. Wilcox surrounded his 
estate with a ditch of some depth, most of which, within the 
recollection of many now living, could be readily traced, and 
some parts of it are still visible. It is said, on the authority of 
tradition, that Capt. Wilcox caused this ditch to be dug in order 
to give employment to his negroes, of whom he owned a consider- 
able number. 

About the year 1760, Charles Cruickshank, a Scotch gentle- 
man of wealth, who held a captain's commission under the British 
government, and who had seen service in the Netherlands, came 
to America, and in 1761 purchased the " Clifton Hall" estate, 
but changed its name to the "Grange," or "Grange Farm." 
Soon after the year 1770, (when the annexed sketch was drawn 
by Capt. Cruickshank,) the mansion-house was enlarged and 
variously modified. It is also probable, that about this period 
the terraced walks were cut, the green-house established, and 
that the almost unequaled natural beauties of the place were 
fully developed by the appliances of art, under the direction of 
a well cultivated taste. The land attached to the Grange was 
partly in three Counties — Chester, (now Delaware,) Philadelphia, 
and Montgomery, which Capt. Cruickshank increased by pur- 
chase. 

In 1768, Mr. John Ross, also a Scotch gentleman, and an 
extensive merchant of Philadelphia, married Clemantina, the 
daughter of Capt. Cruickshank, who at the close of the Revolu- 
tionary war sold the Grange to his son-in-law, Ross, and returned 
with his family to his native country. Mr. Ross added to the 
buildings, and also increased the quantity of land to an aggre- 
gate of six hundred acres. After the death of Mr. Ross in 1806, 
the estate was sold to his son-in-law, John F. Mifiiin, who, in 
1810, sold the mansion to John H. Brinton, the maternal grand- 
father of Gen. George B. McClellan. In 1816, Mr. Brinton 
sold the mansion, with another part of the estate which he had 
purchased in 1811, to Manuel Eyre, Esq., who made it his coun- 
try residence till his death in 1845, a period of twenty-nine 
years. About that time the Grange was purchased by John 
Ashurst, Esq., the son-in-law of Mr. Eyre, who still occupies it 
as his country seat. 

At an early period, particularly during its occupancy by 
Charles Ross, the Grange was fitted up in the most exquisite 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 395 

style of the times, and during the summer months, it was not 
unfrequently the scene of elegant and luxurious entertainments. 

The late Dr. Charles Caldwell, who afterwards became a Pro- 
fessor in a Medical College of Kentucky, was then a young man 
and resided in Philadelphia. During part of the period men- 
tioned he was a visitor at the Grange, and being struck with the 
many beauties of the place, wrote a short rural poem on the sub- 
ject, which is given entire in the Appendix, Note M.^ 

Though the German Lutheran Church, well known as the 
"Dutch Church," stands a little beyond the Haverford line in 
Lower Merion, still a number of old families in our County feel 
sufficient interest in it to justify a short notice. Prior to 1765, 
a number of German families had settled in Merion and Haver- 
ford, and about that year there is evidence of the formation of 
a Lutheran congregation. After various efforts, a piece of land 
was secured and a log church erected. In 1800, a second church 
edifice was built, which was of stone. This, in its turn, gave 
place to the present building, which was erected in 1833. No 
doubt the services in this church, in early times, were conducted 
in the German language. 

Owing to the large number of immigrant foreigners professing 
the Catholic faith, employed in the manufacturing establishments 
of Cobb's Creek, erected by Dennis Kelly, a church became ne- 
cessary for their accommodation. For this purpose the Church 
of jSt. Dennis was erected in 1825. It was the first Catholic 
Church edifice built in Delaware County. 

The Methodists have a church in Haverford called Bethesda, 
erected about thirty years since, and the Friends a meeting- 
house near the Haverford College, which answers for the accom- 
modation of the professors and pupils of that Institution as well 
as other persons in the neighborhood. 

RADNOR. 

After Merion and Haverford, Radnor was the next Welsh 
township settled. There is no documentary evidence of any set- 
tlement having been made in Radnor earlier than 1685, though 
the fact that the certificates of several of the first Quaker settlers 
of that township are dated early in 1683, it is very probable that 
settlements were made there in 1684. Some of the earliest immi- 
grants who located in that township were from Radnorshire in 
Wales ; hence the name of the township. 

A Welsh gentleman, named Richard JDavid, or Davies, in 1681, 
purchased 5000 acres of land from William Penn in England, which 

1 The manuscript copy of the poem was kindly furnished by the venerable Samuel 
Breck, Esq., who was the son-in-law of John Ross. 



396 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

he sold to various purchasers. The whole, or nearly the whole 
of this purchase was located in Radnor, though there is no evi- 
dence that the grantor, Davies, ever visited this country. 

Radnor Friends Meeting-house, built in 1718, is still standing. 
It is a permanent building, in good repair, and with an addi- 
tion, built in later years, at the east end, (originally for a school- 
house,) is used for holding the monthly meetings of the Society 
for several particular meetings. The first body interred in the 
grave-yard attached to this meeting-house, was that of Gwenllian, 
the wife of Howell James, 11th mo., 31st, 1686. 

About twenty years since, a Cathojic educational institution 
was established in Radnor, called Villa Nova. It was under 
the charge of the " Hermits of St. Augustine," but is not at this 
time in successful operation as a school. A large farm is con- 
nected with the institution. 

The Methodist congregation that worships at the church on 
the old Lancaster road, in the eastern part of the township, is 
one of the oldest of that persuasion. There is also a Baptist 
Church in this township, known as Radnor Hall, which was con- 
stituted in 1841. 

NEWTOWN. 

Although this township was not included in the Welsh Tract, 
it was originally, for the most part, settled by Welshmen. It 
was laid out with what was called a " Townstead" in the centre, 
and the first purchasers of land in the township were entitled to 
a certain number of acres in the Townstead, or new village as it 
was sometimes called. This ideal town doubtless suggested the 
name of the township. A township similarly laid out in Bucks 
County bears the same name. Newtown was not fully organ- 
ized till 1686, though a collector of taxes was appointed early 
in 1685. 

St. David's, or Radnor Church, noticed in another place, is 
within the limits of Newtown township. With the exception of 
Haverford meeting-house, it is the oldest place of worship in 
Delaware County, having been erected in 1717, one year earlier 
than the Friends' Meeting-house of Radnor. The building and 
its surroundings bear the marks of antiquity. The stone stair- 
way outside of the main building, leading to the gallery, is alto- 
gether unique. 

The oldest tomb-stone noticed in the cemetery that surrounds 
the Church, bears this inscription : 

" Here Lieth ye body of 
Edward Hvghes, Entered 
y*^ 16 day of December 
1716 — aged 56 years 9 months."^ 

1 This Edward Hughes, it is said, was Rector of the Church as early as 1704. 







1 '.' - >. 












HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 397 

Another bears the following : 

" Here lies the body of William Evans, who departed this life, 
September the 29th, 1734, aged 52 years. 

" My: pilgrim: race: I ran: a pace, 
My: resting: place is here: 
This: stone: is: got: to: keep y^ spot — 
That men dig not too near." 

Quite a large number of the tomb-stones were erected in the 
first half of the eighteenth century. 

This church-yard is noted as being the depository of the re- 
mains of General Anthony Wayne, of the Revolutionary war. 
They rest under a plain marble monument, bearing on two sides 
of it the following inscriptions : 

" Major General Anthony Wayne was born at Waynesbo- 
rough, in Chester County — State of Pennsylvania, A. D. 1745 — 
After a life of Honor and usefulness, he died in December, 1796, 
at a military post on the shore of Lake Erie — Commander in 
chief of the army of the United States. His military achieve- 
ments are consecrated in the History of his country and in the 
hearts of his countrymen — His remains are here deposited." 

" In Honor of the distinguished military services of Major 
General Anthony Wayne ; and as an affectionate tribute of 
respect to his memory, this stone was erected by his companions 
in arms — The Pennsylvania State Society of the Ginainati^ July 
4th, 1809 — Thirty fourth Anniversary of the United States of 
America — An event which constitutes the most appropriate Eulo- 
gium of an American soldier and patriot." 

In another part of the yard a massive marble slab, erected 
after the death of General Wayne, but before his remains were 
removed from their first place of interment, bears the two follow- 
ing inscriptions: 

■'■■ 7" ■-^ - ■"■ ■ ' 
"Mary 'V^i^Byfire, Consort of the late Major Gen: Anthony 

Wayne, died April 18th, 1793, aged 44 years." 

" Major Gen : Anthony Wayne, late Commander of the Army 

of the United States, died at Presqu-Isle December 15th 1796, 

aged 52 years — his body is intered within the garrisson near the 

town of Erie." 

Besides this church, which has generally been regarded as an 
institution belonging to Radnor, there is the Friends' Meeting- 
house, the establishment of which has already been noticed, and 
a Baptist church constituted in the year 1832. 



398 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

MIDDLETOWN. 

This township probably received its name from its supposed 
central location when the name was conferred upon it. The 
author has seen no evidence that it was organized as a municipal 
district prior to 1687, though it possibly may have been. 

The first organization within this County of a Presbyterian 
congregation was in this township, and doubtless their first 
church edifice was erected on or very near the site of the present 
Presbyterian Meeting-house, which itself, notwithstanding the 
recent repairs it has undergone, bears the marks of a respectable 
antiquity. Thomas Dutton, now in his ninety-fourth year, in- 
formed me that the present meeting-house was built in the time 
of his grandfather. " That he, although a Quaker, subscribed 
money towards the building of it, as he was willing that the 
Presbyterians should have a suitable place to hold their meetings 
in." 

The church records have been lost or destroyed, biit fortu- 
nately a memento of high interest has been preserved, that not 
only bears testimony to the early establishment of the Middle- 
town congregation, but also to the deep interest that was felt in 
its prosperity by one of the most eminent of the dissenting 
divines of England. A folio volume, belonging to the church, 
has the following memorandum, believed to be in the hand- 
writing of the donor, inscribed on the inside of the cover: 

" This Book call'd M"'. Baxter's Directory was given by y* 
Reverend D' Isaac Watts of London to the Protestant Dissenters 
usually assembling for Worship at Middletown Meeting-house in 
Pennsylvania ; that people who come from far, & spend their 
whole day there, may have something proper to entertain them- 
selves with, or to read to one another between the seasons of Wor- 
ship morning and afternoon : & 'tis for this end intrusted to y'' 
care of [the] Protestant Dissenting Minister who preaches there, 
and to his Successors, to be used by him or them in their weekly 
Studys, when they please, and to be secured & devoted to the 
Use of the Congregation on y^ Lords days." 

"Jan^SO*'': 1735-6." 

"The Book is committed to the care of M'. Benj. Hawley to 
be carried over to Pennsylvania, and after he has kept it in his 
own hands and made the best use of it for six months, that is 
till the 30* : of July next, he shall deliver it to the hands of the 
present Protestant Dissenting Minister for the purposes before- 
mentioned." 

The book is at this time in the custody of the Rev. James W. 
Dale, the minister now in charge of the Middletown church, who 
kindly furnished a copy of the above writing for this work. 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 399 

In early times, no provision whatever was made for heating 
the body of the Middletown church even in the coldest weather. 
At such seasons, a fire was provided in a small session-room ad- 
joining the church, to which the people resorted before taking 
their seats in the congregation. For neai'ly a century and a 
half, Middletown was the only Presbyterian Church in Delaware 
County — a number of the members residing at a distance of from 
eight to ten miles from their place of worship. 

One of the tombstones in the grave-yard, bears the following 
inscription : — 

" Here lieth the body of Bernhard Vanleer, M. D. Physisian 
in Physick — who departed this life, January the 26th 1790 
aged 104 years. 

" Friends weep not for me, for all your tears are vain, 
Prepare to meet the Lord, that we may meet again." 

"His wife Christiana — died March 29th, 1815, aged 88 years 
& 7 months." 

The earliest inscription noticed bears the date of 1724. 

Since the division in the Society of Friends, a second Friends' 
Meeting-house has been erected in Middletown. The Methodists 
also have one in this township. 

One of the most costly and imposing buildings in Delaware 
County is the " Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble Minded 
Children," located on an eminence one mile west of Media, in 
Middletown township. The last wing of the building, which is 
of stone, has just been completed, which enables the Managers 
to accommodate 160 pupils. The present number is 125, of 
whom 60 are beneficiaries of the State of Pennsylvania. 

The farm and buildings have cost about $140,000, which 
has been furnished by private subscription and aided by the 
State. 

The County House, for the support and employment of the 
poor, is also located in Middletown. 

Glen Riddle, and other manufacturing villages on Chester 
Creek, are partly in this township. 

The site of Knowlton, up to the year 1800, was a perfect 
wilderness. Near the head gates of the mill, there was formerly 
the mark of a grave, the occupant of which tradition named 
Moggey, and from that circumstance the crossing of the creek 
was named Moggeys Ford. As Moggey had the reputation of 
making her appearance occasionally, it required no little courage 
in the traveler in early times to cross the ford at night. 



400 ' HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

ASTON. 

This township probably derived its name from Aston, a village 
of Berkshire, England, noted as the place at which a battle was 
fought in the year 871 between the Danes and the Saxons, in 
which the former were totally defeated by Ethelred and his brother 
Alfred, In 1686, Edward Carter, then a resident in what is 
now Aston, was appointed constable for Northley. The next 
year John Neal's (Nields) was appointed for the township of 
Aston, which may be regarded as the period at which the town- 
ship was organized as a municipal district. 

The manufacturing villages of Rockdale and Crozerville are 
located in this township, and also parts of other manufacturing 
villages. In the former of these Calvary Episcopal Church, re- 
markable for its neatness, is located. It was built in 1836, on 
an eminence commanding a view of the village. Village Green 
is a handsome town, in which is located the successful seminary 
of J. Harvey Barton. Mount Hope Methodist Church is a 
mile from the village, and a new church of the same denomina- 
tion, has recently been erected within its limits. The Catholic 
Church of St. Thomas is also in Aston township. The old de- 
serted church known as the "Blue Church," was built about 
the year 1818, the chief part of the funds necessary for its erec- 
tion being furnished by the late James Lindsay The Rev. John 
Smith was the first pastor. 

As late as 1770, a family of Indians had a wigwam on the 
Aston side of Chester Creek, opposite the farm of Jared Dar- 
lington, in Middletown, but did not remain there constantly. 
Their names were Andrew, Isaac, his son, and two women, 
sisters, Nanny and Betty, one of whom was the wife of Andrew. 
Andrew died about the year 1780, and was buried in the grave- 
yard of Middletown Friends' Meeting. These Indians also had 
a wigwam in the hollow north of Joseph Gibbon's, in Springfield, 
to which they sometimes resorted. 

EDGMONT, 

Joseph Baker, one of the earliest settlers in Edgmont, had a 
brother John, who died in Philadelphia in 1685. John, in his 
will, states that he was " late of Edgmont, in Shropshire, old 
England." We may presume, then, that Joseph came from the 
•same locality. Hence the name of the township, which was 
frequently spelled Edgmond in early times. There was no ap- 
pointment of a municipal officer for Edgmont till 1687, though 
Joseph Baker, residing within the limits of the township, was 
appointed constable for Gilead in 1686. 

There is a tradition that in laying out the road from Chester 



HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 401 

to Edgmont, or more likely in a review of that road, Henry 
Hollingsworth, the surveyor, caused an apple-tree to be planted 
at the end of every mile. The surveyor happened to be at 
variance with Richard Crosby, who then resided in Middletown 
township. It so happened that one of the miles ended on Richard's 
land, but instead of planting an apple-tree the surveyor took an 
axe, and bent two saplings so as to cross each other at the spot, 
saying at the same time, " Richard Crosbie, thee crosses me, and 
I will cross thee." Henry Hollingsworth wrote to his friends in 
England, that he had planted an orchard nine miles in length. 
It is said that some of the apple-trees then planted were stand- 
ing till within a very recent period. 

Castle Rock^ in Edgmont, near Crum Creek, where it is crossed 
by the West Chester road, is often visited as a natural curiosity. 

The Temperance Hall in this township has recently been pur- 
chased by a Methodist congregation, and will hereafter be used 
as a church. 

THORNBUKY. 

One of the earliest and most influential inhabitants of this 
township was George Pearce. The native place of his wife Ann 
was Thornhury, in Gloucestershire, England. Hence we can 
readily account for the name of the township, and at the same 
time cannot fail to appreciate the tender affection that prompted 
this pioneer settler in its selection in preference to the name of 
his own native town. The township was organized in 1687, by 
the appointment of Hugh Durborow as constable, when not more 
than five or six families had settled within its limits. About 
three-fourths of the original township was retained in Delaware 
County, when it was separated from Chester, which still retained 
the name of Thornbury, as did the lesser part included in 
Chester County. 

This township was enlarged about a quarter of a century since, 
so as to include a portion of the north end of Aston. The ex- 
tensive paper manufacturing establishment of the Messrs. Will- 
cox called " Glen Mills," is located in this part of the township. 

The road in Thornbury passing the farm of Henry W. Brinton 
towards that of William D. Fennel, it is said, was laid out on an 
old Indian trail. 

There are three Methodist churches in Thornbury, one of 
which is for colored persons. 



26 



402 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

BIRMINGHAM. 

The origin of this name for the township is not diJBficult to ac- 
count for. Its earliest settler, William Brinton, migrated from 
the neighborhood of the ancient English city of that name, and 
it is not wonderful that he should have selected for his wilder- 
ness home the name that would recall to his memory the earliest 
and most pleasing associations of his life. Birmingham was 
organized as a municipal district in 1686, by the appointment 
of John Bennett constable. Richard Thatcher served that office 
for Birmingham afterwards, although he at that time resided on 
the Thornbury side of the line that divided the two townships. 

Birmingham was also one of the townships that was divided 
in running the line between Chester and Delaware Counties. 
Nearly two-thirds of the original township fell to the share of 
Delaware County. 

In very early times a small company mill stood on Brinton's 
run near the site of the present mill of George Brinton. A 
little lower down was the " Town Pound," extending a little 
into the water. The miller's house belonging to the old mill is 
still standing. 

There are many localities in Birmingham where events of in- 
terest occurred during the battle of Brandywine, that have been 
pointed out to me, but it is believed that those of most interest 
are embraced in the account of the battle already given. 

Brandywine Baptist Church has already been noticed. The 
present church edifice is a substantial stone building situated 
more than a mile west of Chadds' Ford. 



^^> 



n 

^ 

s 

^ 






GEOLOGY OP DELAWARE COVmY. 



It cannot be supposed that in a district of country so very limited in its ex- 
tent as the County of Delaware, there will be found in the details of its Geology 
many facts to interest the general reader. Still there are a few, that when 
brought to the notice of an inquiring mind, cannot fail to attract attention and 
lead to further investigations, alike pleasing and useful. 

As preliminary to the consideration of the Geology proper of the County of 
Delaware, a- topographical view of the territory embraced within its limits will 
be presented. 

The drainage of the County is principally effected by five large creeks and 
their tributaries, that ti-averse it in their course to the Delaware River, viz : 
Cobb's, Darby, Crum, Ridley, and Chester Creeks ; by the Brandywine, that forms 
a part of our western boundary, and by Naaman's Creek that empties into the 
Delaware a short distance below the junction of the circular line with that river. 
A small part of Radnor township is drained by the Gulf Creek, and a still smaller 
part of the same township by Mill Creek, both of which discharge their waters 
into the Schuylkill. 

Of these creeks the Brandywine is much the largest. The next in size is 
Chester Creek, which enters the County by two principal branches, designated 
" East" and "West." These branches are both good mill streams. They unite 
their waters at Crozerville, and the main creek empties into the Delaware at 
Chester. Darby Creek, the next in point of size, also has its origin in two prin- 
cipal branches, known as " Big " and " Little " Darby Creeks. These unite at 
the flour mill of Tryon Lewis in Radnor. Ithan Creek, another principal branch, 
also unites with it in the northwestern part of Haverford township. The main 
stream, thus formed, after passing Darby, the head of tide, unites its waters with 
those of Cobb's Creek, forming a large tide water stream, even larger than 
Chester Creek. Crum and Ridley Creeks are each of them considerable streams 
before they cross the dividing line of Chester and Delaware Counties. They 
pursue the same general course, and only distant from each other from one to 
two and a-half miles. A little above tide water, these creeks approach within 
a half mile of each other, but again diverge and enter the Delaware between the 
borough of Chester and Tinicum Island. Cobb's Creek rises about the dividing 
line of Radnor and Haverford, traverses the latter township, and afterwards 
forms the boundary line between Delaware County and the consolidated city of 
Philadelphia, to its junction with Darby Creek. 

Besides the streams enumerated, the County has other mill streams of less 
note, as Hook Creek, which empties into the Delaware above Marcus Hook ; 
Little Crum Creek which unites with Crum Creek, a short distance before that 
stream reaches the river; Mucanippates, a branch of Darby Creek; Naylor's Run, 
a branch of Cobb's Creek; Concord Creek &n(i Green's Creek, branches of the west 
branch of Chester Creek ; Rocky Run, a branch of the east branch of the same 
stream, and Beaver Creek and Harvey's Run, branches of the Brandywine. The 
Gulf Creek turns one mill in Delaware County ; and besides those enumerated, 
there are several streams of sufficient size for light mill powers. 

The surface of the County is decidedly undulating, and in some parts hilly 
As the direction of the streams indicate, there is a general slope in the land 



404 GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

towards the river ; the average coiTrses of these streams being a little east of 
south. This slope is rather gradual till we approach within three or four miles 
of the river, or the marsh lands bordering it. Here may be observed on the 
high ground between the creeks, an abrupt fall in the general surface of the 
country. The line or direction of this sudden change of slope is nearly at right 
angles with the large creeks of the County, and preserves a general parallelism 
with the river and marsh lands, at about the distance that has been mentioned. 
It has been termed a " water shade" and for reasons that will be mentioned here- 
after, not inappropriately. This '■^ water shade" can be traced beyond the limits 
of the County on either side of it, and though obscured by streams and ravines 
in many places, it is very distinct in others. Thus it may be seen below Booth's 
Corner in Bethel; at Mount Hope meeting-house in Aston, where it has the 
name of " Aston Ridge ;" at Harrison's Hill on the Edgmont road ; near Hink- 
son's Corner on the Chester and Providence road ; above West Dale, Spring 
Hill, and Clifton stations on the West Chester railroad ; between Kellyville and 
Garrett Ford, crossing the Garrett road near the toll-gate. 

The abruptness of the fall in the land is in a great degree obliterated in 
the beds of the several creeks that cross it ; but the great fall in these streams, 
at and for some distance above their intersection by the "water shade," un- 
mistakeably indicate its presence. During ages they have been cutting their 
channels deeper upwards, thereby constituting a series of rapids, which in an 
early Geological period of this district of country, were concentrated into one of 
great abruptness, or even into perpendicular falls. This cutting back in the 
beds of our streams has been modified by the character of the rocks in different 
localities. Thus in Chester Creek it has been much greater than in those of 
Crum or Darby. Still each stream has its rapids at no very great distance from 
the crossing of the luater shade, which in every instance is at a point where the 
stream has acquired its maximum size, thus affording very many of the best 
sites for manufacturing purposes, for which the County has become noted. 

The " water shade " has served another valuable purpose. The land from its 
base gradually declines towards the Delaware, leaving nothing to obstruct the 
view from its summit of several miles of that river, and over a great extent of 
New Jersey, thus affording a vast number of building sites, unrivaled for health- 
fulness and the extent of the views they afford. 

The elevation of the sources of the principal streams of the County above 
tide water has been ascertained with a reasonable degree of accuracy. That of 
Cobb's Creek is 392 feet, Ithan 399, Darby 440, Crum, 520, and Ridley the same. 
The elevation of the source of Chester Creek has not been ascertained with the 
same degree of accuracy, but that of its eastern branch may be safely set down 
at a somewhat higher figure than Crum or Ridley Creeks. 

The only exception to the genei'al slope of the surface of the County is in 
the small part of Radnor drained by the Gulf Creek. This stream at first has 
an easterly course, then suddenly turns to the north, and after having cut its 
way through the south valley hill, forming a narrow gorge known as the 
" Gulf," turns again easterly and empties into the Schuylkill. 

The marsh lands bordering the Delaware would be inundated at every high 
tide, but for the artificial banks that surround them. Within the large scope of 
marsh between the Schuylkill and Darby Creek, besides the high part of Tini- 
cum, there are several parcels of land that would not thus be inundated. These 
were islands before the banks were made. Their number and general figure 
may be seen on the " Map of Early Settlements " accompanying this work. 

Having thus presented the general physical aspect of the surface of the County, 
it will be next in order to consider its Geology proper. The rocks of our County 
are relatively the lowest, and belong to the earliest formation known to Geologists. 
To those that are stratified, Mr. Lyell has applied the terms, Hypogene and Mela- 
morphic; the former having reference to their position, as being nether -for med^ 
and the latter to their altered structure from subterranean heat. The term 
Hypogene will apply equally well to any unstratified rocks within our limits. 

Of the magnificent series of deposits entombing the remains of a succes- 
sion of organized beings, found in other sections of our country, this County 



GEOLOGY OF DELAWAKE COUNTY. 405 

does not present a single stratum. Our rocks were either formed before such 
beings were called into existence, or every trace of their remains has been 
effaced by the great subterranean heat to which they have been subjected. 
Resting unconformably on these rocks, we have in some parts of the County, 
deposits of clay, gravel, or sand, formerly, though improperly, called diluvium, 
while in other sections they are covered with the earthy results of their own 
decomposition. 

Professor Henry D. Rogers, our State Geologist, designates our rocks by the 
terms Hypozoic or Gneissic. Of these rocks be found three districts within the 
limits of his survey; the .^rs^ or most southern of which embraces substantially 
the whole of Delaware County, and " ranges from the Delaware River at Trenton, 
to the Susquehanna, south of the State line." 

Mr. Rogers informs us, that " this most southern belt of our crystalline strata 
makes its first appearance at a spot in New Jersey, about six miles N. E. of 
Trenton, where it emerges from beneath the margin of the overlapping Mesoic 
Red Sandstone." Its lower or southern margin, he says, "crosses the Delaware 
River a short distance below the bridge at Trenton, and passes by Bristol, Phila- 
delphia, Chester, and Wilmington, being separated from the river by a narrow 
strip of diluvial and alluvial deposits, which only in a few places exceed one 
mile in width. The northern boundary commencing at the same point in New 
Jersey, crosses the Delaware about a mile and a half above Trenton, and ranges 
in a somewhat undulating line to Sandy Creek, about a mile east of the 
Wissahickon." 

" W. of the Wissahickon, the northern edge of this zone of gneiss, ranges just 
S. of Barren Hill ; crosses the Schuylkill a little below Spring Mill, passes about 
a mile and a half S. of the Paoli, and terminates near Boardsley's Run of the 
West Branch of the Brandy wine, and not far from the Chester County Poor-House. 
W. of the Brandywine the gneissic rocks sink under the altered primal strata, in 
a succession of anticlinal fingers on slender promontories." 

It will thus be seen that the whole County is included in the first gneissic 
district of Mr. Rogers, except a very small part of Radnor township, which ex- 
tends into the South Valley Hill, and which he includes in his next higher 
division of rocks termed Azoic. As this division is alike destitute of organic 
remains as the gneissic, and was established merely on the fact that it is less 
crystalline than the former, the difference between the two belts is of no practical 
importance, and the line of junction very frequently cannot be determined. 

In describing our rocks in detail, Mr. Rogers has divided his southern Gneissic 
district into three subdivisions. I will not follow him in this, because his con- 
clusions were mostly drawn from examinations made on the Schuylkill, which 
frequently do not hold good when extended into our County, and because the 
accompanying map will suffice to show the location of each variety of rock much 
better than it could be given in words. It must be remembei'ed, however, that 
our strata are not continuous for any great distances; that they frequently alter- 
nate, and that the constituents of the same stratum will be different in its dif- 
ferent parts. It will therefore be understood, that the color adopted to indicate 
on the map the presence of any particular rock, is not intended to convey the 
idea that that rock is exclusively present in the particular locality rej)resented by 
the color. It merely shows & predominance of the rock indicated by the color. 
This is the best that can be done, where the strata are so extremely variable. 

The direction of the strata and their dip are also exceedingly variable. The 
general or average direction may be given as nearly north and south, and the 
dip a little towards the west. But frequently the strata are nearly vertical or an 
opposite dip is visible. 

Commencing on what is known as the " Line road," at its junction with the 
old Haverford road, in the 24th ward of the City of Philadelphia, the presence 
of a trap dyke can be traced continuously for some distance into the township 
of Springfield. The gneiss rock on either side of this trap has undergone a 
striking metamorphism. It appears to have been originally constituted of the 
usual ingredients — quartz, mica, and feldspar, or sometimes with the mica re- 
placed by hornblende. The effect of the protruded trap has been, to aggregate 



406 GEOLOGY OF DELAWAKE COUNTY. 

and recrystallize the feldspar in the adjacent gneiss without destroying its lami- 
nated structure. The effect of this re-crystallization on the durability of the 
feldspar has been veiy remarkable. It has now become the least destructible 
of the three ingredients of the rock ; the crystals of feldspar appearing as a 
gravel in the soil resulting from the decomposition of this porphyritic gneiss. 
The fertility of this soil is unsurpassed — as it is constantly supplied with potash 
from the very slow but gradual decomposition of the feldspathic gravel. As 
another evidence of the increased dui'ability of the feldspar in this metaraorphic 
gneiss, I may mention that in the exposed boulders of this rock, the feldspar 
crystals are found standing in relief. 

The trap composing this dyke varies greatly in its appearance, and doubtless 
somewhat in its composition. It generally has the aspect of coarse basalt. Its 
decomposition has been more rapid than that of the adjacent rocks, but still 
there are a sufiicient number of spherical trap boulders on the suiface to mark 
the course of the dyke and its branches, that yield but slowly to the weather, 
and scarcely at all to the sledge. The branches from the main trunk generally 
pass southerly, effecting a metamorphism of a wide belt of gneiss, or that meta- 
morphism is owing to other causes not apparent. Some of this metamorphic 
rock exhibits alternate lamina of light-colored crystalline feldspar, with dark fine- 
grained mica and quartz, affording a valuable building stone. In many other 
places the matamorphism has almost destroyed the rock for economical purposes, 
while in a few spots the gneiss has not been in the least affected. Large granitic 
veins presenting their usual coarse appearance, have had a share in changing 
the character of the rock a little further south and east. These veins are abun- 
dant about Kellyville. Below a line commencing at Cobb's Creek, near the 
Delaware County turnpike, and crossing Darby Creek some distance above the 
town of Darby, the gneiss becomes more micaceous, assuming the character of 
mica schist in some places, as may be seen on Church lane, near Cobb's Creek. 
On Mount Zion Hill, near Darby, this micaceous rock takes in as an ingredient a 
small portion of kyanite. These more micaceous strata, however, alternate with 
those that are less so, and in which the mica is dark-colored, or its place is sup- 
plied by hornblende. At Kellyville the gneiss rock in some of its strata is highly 
ferruginous, and at Darby still more so. 

Below the " water shade" the underlying rocks are so much covered with dilu- 
vium, and the earthy matter resulting from their own decomposition, that it is 
exceedingly difficult to trace the direction of their strata with any great degree 
of certainty. North of Darby Creek Ferry we find the strata micaceous, and in 
one belt of considerable dimensions, the place of the mica is nearly altogether 
supplied by dark-colored kyanite. 

In the immediate vicinity of Darby Creek Ferry, and several other places in 
the same neighborhood, the exposures of large granitic veins, of the very coarsest 
materials, are numerous. One of these is on the island of Tinicum, half a mile 
above the ferry. In all these veins feldspar is the most abundant material. 

Below the post road, and near Little Crum Creek, the gneiss strata become 
more solid, the proportion of quartz increased, and the mica, which is dark- 
colored, less abundant. Here quarries have been opened, from which large 
quantities of stone were taken to the Delaware Breakwater. These quarries are 
not in the range of strata in which nearly all the well-known gneiss quarries of 
Delaware county are located. 

Near Lieperville, but still southeast of the regular gneiss quarry range, are found 
strata of no great dimensions, but abounding in silicious particles, almost to the 
exclusion of the other ingredients of gneiss. These particles are sharp and 
gritty, and some years ago large quantities of the partially decomposed rock 
were manufactured into scythe stones, and were well known under the name of 
" Crum Creek Stones." 

The large trap dyke that has been mentioned, disappears in Springfield, and 
the southwestern part of that township, with the northwestern part of Ridley, 
the southern part of Nether Providence and the eastern part of Chester town- 
ships being, in a great measure, free from large intrusive veins of granite, the 
gneiss is there found undisturbed and unaltered, and generally of an excellent 



GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 407 

quality. It is within the limits that I have mentioned that all the noted gneiss 
quarries of Delaware county are found. Isolated patches of a similar rock that 
have escaped the influence of secondary metamorphic agencies, are met with in 
-other parts of the County, but they are of limited extent, and being inconvenient 
to tidewater, quarries opened in them can only serve for local purposes. 

The quarries on Crum and Ridley Creeks are on or near tidewater, affording 
every facility for transporting their products to market, and for which the city of 
Philadelphia, almost from the time it was founded to the present time, has 
afforded one both convenient and ready. 

Though the structure of these rocks, and the minerals entering into their com- 
position, bring them up to the standard of true gneiss in the strictest sense of the 
term, still the usual varieties of that rock are found in the different quarries. 
On the one hand it approaches granite so nearly as not readily to be distin- 
guished from that rock, and is known in commerce under the name of granite, 
while on the other hand it similates mica schist, retaining, however, its qualities 
of hardness and durability. The former is cut and employed for every architec- 
tural purpose for which granite is adapted, while the latter, besides being exten- 
sively quarried as a building stone, supplies nearly all the curb-stone used in the 
city of Philadelphia, and some for other places. For this latter purpose no 
stone could be better adapted ; its hardness and toughness fitting it for the 
severe usage to which it is subjected on the sides of the streets, — while numer- 
ous seams, nearly at right angles with its cleavage, and at suitable distances 
from each other, enables the skilful workman to take out blocks of nearly the 
exact size wanted, and of lengths varying from five to forty feet. 

Immediately west of Ptidley Creek, and for some distance above the post road, 
and probably for some distance below it also, the character of the rock is essen- 
tially different from that in its immediate vicinity. As exhibited in Spencer 
Mcllvain's quarry above the road, it is substantially composed of hornblende and 
quartz intimately blended, and has a specific gravity of 3.13. 

We have now considered the underlying rocks of the southeastern section of 
the county, below the development of trap first mentioned, and an imaginary 
continuation of it to the neighborhood of Chester. On the upper side of this 
trap much less change has been effected in the character of the adjacent strata : 
still a change is well marked in many places. In proceeding northward from 
the line already designated, the strata gradually become micaceous, until they 
pass into well marked mica schist in the eastern part of the County. Before 
reaching this point, strata of hornblende schist and silicious .schist, alternate 
with micaceous gneiss, or with true mica slate. In the southeastern part of 
Marple township, a few narrow strata occur, composed chiefly of a sharp sili- 
cious sand, with minute particles of mica interspersed. The lithological charac- 
ter of this rock, as well as its immediate associations, would entitle it to be 
classed as a mica slate. It is from these subordinate strata that the well known 
" Darby creek scythe stones " are manufactured.* 

The map will exhibit approximately where gneiss predominates on the one 
hand, or mica slate on the other; but it may be repeated that the colors of the 
map only indicate the predominance of a rock, and not its presence, to the exclu- 
sion of all others. 

The next belt of strata to be noticed is that in which all other rocks may be 
considered subordinate to mica slate. This belt occupies quite a considerable 
district in our County, but has attracted little attention, from the fact that a 
large part of it is hidden from view by the remains of an ancient deposit of clay, 
sand, and gravel that rests unconformably on the micaceous strata which compose 
it. This deposit has mostly disappeared along the streams ; which circumstance 
allows us to form a good judgment of the general character of the underlying 
rock, though its particular features in many places must remain a matter of 
conjecture. 

For the boundaries assigned to these micaceous strata, which are in a measure 

* The stone, after having been removed from the quarry, is split into blocks of nearly the right 
size. These are dressed into shape with a kind of hatchet, after vrhich the stones are finished by 
grinding them on a lai'ge stone running horiz ntally, with pewter sand and water. 



408 GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, 

arbitrarj', the reader is referred to the map, where it will be seen that they occupy 
the largest part of Haverford and Marple townships, a considerable scope of 
Springfield and of Nether Providence. Within this scope, intrusive veins of 
granite have effected a considerable change in the character of the rock in seve- 
ral places. These may be seen near Leedom's Mill on Cobb's Creek, and near 
Darby Creek, on the Philadelphia and West Chester Plank Road. On the east side 
of the latter creek, one or two of these coarse granitic veins have been beautifully 
displayed by the cutting made in grading the hill. What is singular, the strati- 
fied rock adjoining the veins is very much decomposed, while the veins them- 
selves have undergone but little change. 

The mica slate is remarkably garnetiferous in §ome places, while in others 
very few garnets are to be seen. They may be seen in the greatest abundance 
east of Haverford Friends' Meeting-house, towards Cobb's Creek, where, in the 
decomposed mica slate forming the bed of the road from the Catholic Church to 
the creek, they appear like a dark-colored gravel ; but upon inspection each 
specimen will be found +0 be a perfectly crystallized garnet. The mica slate 
near the foot of the hill, which contains imbedded garnets, is a light-colored, 
flaky variety, but the sandy bed of the road resulting from its decomposition is 
of a reddish color. This is supposed to be caused by the slow decomposition of 
the garnets themselves. 

The mica slate is garnetiferous on Darby Creek, Naylor's Run, and in other 
places where the rock is exposed. The garnets are generally small — from the 
size of a shot to that of a pea, but not unfrequently those of a larger size are 
found. 

Occasionally this rock takes in a little kyanite as a component ingredient; but 
this is rare, and when it does occur, the kyanite is of a much lighter color, and 
in much less proportion than that found under similar circumstances near Darby 
Creek Ferry. Surface specimens of rock thus constituted may be seen about 
a half mile south of Haverford post-ofSce. 

Quartz rock so usually accompanies mica slate, in subordinate strata, that I 
need hardly mention that our district forms no exception to the general rule. 
Large exposures of this rock in place, are found in Marple township. 

In several localities, the mica slate assumes the crimped and folded condition 
that forms one of its striking characteristics. This is well exhibited on the hill 
east of Beatty's Mills ; near Lowne's Run, on the road from Springfield to Chester, 
and in several localities in Marple township. 

Mr. Rogers extends this Geological district beyond the Brandywine; but most 
of the strata composing it lose their micaceous character in proceeding south- 
ward and westward from Crum Creek, though some of them regain that character 
again. as they approach the first mentioned stream. The map will exhibit ap- 
proximately the character of the rocks there as elsewhere in the County. It may 
be mentioned, however, that in the section formed by the Brandywine, some of 
the strata are highly micaceous, and contain garnets, while others have the 
character of true gneiss, or hornblende, or feldspathic gneiss. 

In Birmingham township, a small bed of highly crystalline limestone is found 
resting in a synclinal trough of the gneissic strata. It has been worked, but it 
lies so deep, and the quarrying of it is so much interfered with by water, that the 
further woi-king of the quarry has long since been abandoned. Mr. Rogers does 
not regard this limestone as belonging to his gneissic formation, but includes it 
in his primal division of Palaezoic rocks. It was known to older Geologists as 
" Primary Limestone." 

In the southwestern part of the County, the mica in the gneiss rock is dark- 
colored, and frequently is replaced by hornblende. Some distance up the river 
there are several trap dykes, from which numerous boulders have been ejected 
and spread around in such numbers and to such an extent, as to have given rise 
to the idea that they were brought from a distance, and belonged to a formation 
known to Geologists as drift. As the presence of these boulders can readily be 
explained from local geological phenomena, the evidence of which is undoubted, 
it is unnecessary to resort to any other theory to explain their presence. These 
boulders are spread over a considerable portion of Bethel, a part of Upper Chi- 



GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 409 

Chester, and extend into Delaware State. On the middle branch of Naaman's 
Creek they occur in the greatest profusion. 

In the vicinity of Village Green, ordinary micaceous strata are observable. 
Further north, in Aston, above the " water shade," the gneiss strata are highly 
metamorphic, and appear in great confusion. The plutonic agency that caused 
this metamorphism (doubtless protruded trap), has elevated hills of some height, 
and has given a general unevenness to the surface of the country. Still further 
north in Aston and Concord the gneiss is less altered, and is not characterized 
by anything remarkable. 

Purposely passing over without consideration the several exposures of serpen- 
tine in our county, with the view of considering them and their accompanying 
rocks together, I will now proceed to notice the gneissic strata lying west and 
northwest of the more micaceous belt that has just been noticed. These strata 
are observed to be in a highly metamorphic condition in many places, and the 
cause of this metamorphism is readily found in the numerous exposures of trap 
rock that meet the eye in many places. This gneissip, belt occupies nearly the 
whole of the townships of Radnor, Newtown, Edgmunt, Thornbury, and parts 
of Upper Providence and Middletown. A part of Radnor township chiefly north 
of the Gulf Creek, Mr. Rogers includes in the lowest member of his ancient 
Palfeozoic strata. It will be noticed hereafter. Beyond Radnor, westward, the 
northern boundary of the gneissic district, now under consideration, passes out 
of the county north of Newtown township. 

The trap rock throughout this region is much iiner grained and more compact 
than the same rock found in and near Upper Darby. Mr. Rogers, in his report of 
the State survey, notices a very large dyke commencing some distance west of 
the Schuylkill, crossing that river at Conshohocken, and terminating in Delaware 
county " near the road leading from the Lancaster Turnpike to the King of 
Prussia village." The author has examined this dyke at Conshohocken and at 
the Gulf Mills in Upper Merion, where there is a good exposure of it, and he 
labors under a great mistake if he has not seen the same dyke, or very large 
branches from it, much further southwest than the point designated as its west- 
ern termination. Be this as it may, such dykes with innumerable smaller 
branches exist, and that they have been the chief instruments in breaking up 
the strata of this district of country, and in giving the rock its present meta- 
morphic character, cannot admit of a doubt. My friend, the late John Evans, of 
Radnor, before the publication of the State survey, held the opinion that the 
trap dykes extending to the southern part of that township, (some of which 
passed near his residence,) were branches of the main dyke passing the Gulf 
Mills. 

This trap is of a remarkably fine compact texture, especially in the neighbor- 
hood of Siterville, where it breaks with a purely conchoidal fracture. 

The gneiss of this district, where it has not been too much altered by the trap 
dykes, does not differ materially from the gneiss of Upper Darby already noticed, 
although none has been noticed so perfectly porphyritic. Mr. Rogers says the 
prevailing varieties are, "first, a massive feldspathic gneiss, some of it mica- 
ceous, and some of it like a stratified syenite; and, secondly, a dark, hard, 
hornblende feldspar gneiss, thinly laminated and strongly striped when viewed 
in transverse section." Mr. Rogers thinks he has discovered " a remarkable 
feature in the uppermost or northern bands of gneiss * * * * which next 
adjoin the base of the primal series, in the possession of a less than usual com- 
pleteness of crystallization in the constituent minerals." Mr. R. has acknow- 
ledged the difficulty of tracing the dividing line between the two formations, and 
as he had a theory to support, which this imperfect crystallization favors, it may 
be possible that his specimens were obtained on the wrong side of the dividing 
line. 

Besides the varieties of gneiss mentioned by Mr. Rogers, as occurring in this 
district, there is one, not noticed by him, and not found in the southern or first 
described district. Its peculiarity consists in its quartz possessing a light blue 
color. This occurs in a belt of considerable breadth, which the author has 
traced from the eastern part of Radnor to the eastern part of Willistown, in 



410 GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

Chester county. This blue quartz is best seen in the decomposed rock where its 
small grains form an angular gravel. Specimens weighing several pounds are 
sometimes met with. 

North of the gneiss of Radnor the rock is chiefly a talcose slate, containing 
much quartz and is in a highly metamorphic condition. This forms what is 
known as the "Gulf Hills." At the foot of these hills, near the Gulf Creek, a 
small deposit of impure limestone exists within the limits of our county. 

A notice of the numerous exposures of serpentine within the county, only the 
larger of which will be particularly described, will close our account of the un- 
derlying rocks The map will show, with a good degree of accuracy, the loca- 
tion of each exposure. 

Mr. Rogers has overlooked every out-crop of serpentine within the limits of 
our County, except one, which is about half a mile from Morgan's Corner, in 
Radnor township, and which is very inconsiderable in extent. This exposure is 
300 feet wide and contains, according to Mr. Rogers, " true injected or iffneous ser- 
pentine, and serpentinous steatitic talc-slale." It is not believed that this serpentine 
has any connection witli any other exposure of the same rock within the County. 
There is, however, a small exposure in Lower Merion township, just beyond the 
Radnor township line, that appears to be continuous with the extensive develop- 
ment on the borders of the townships of Radnor, Newtown and Marple, and 
serves to connect this serpentine with the serpentine and steatite of Mill creek, 
and that of the Schuylkill at the soapstone quarry. The development mentioned 
is located on the line of separation between the micaceous district and the 
northern gneissic, and for a considerable distance forms the boundary between 
them. This development of serpentine embraces both the stratified and unstra- 
tified rock, and is associated with steatitic rocks, and also with true talcose slate 
in small quantities. 

As is the case with every extensive development of serpentine in the county, 
this one is accompanied with a trap dyke. A little northwest of the residence 
of Henrj- Hippie, in Marple, this dyke at one point is beautifully exposed, and in 
conjunction with another unstratified rock, highly crystalline in its character, 
forms a hill of no mean proportions. The fresh fracture of this rock is of a 
dark green color, and its crystals are so interlaced as to give it such a degree of 
toughness as to render its fracture very difficult. Its appearance is intermediate 
between pyroxine and tremolite. Prof. Booth, of the U, S. Mint, judging from a 
hand specimen, has rather doubtfully decided to call this rock diallage, a variety 
of augite, while J. C. Trautwine, Esq., who visited the locality, unhesitatingly 
named it anthophyllite, a variety of hornblende. The distinction between augite 
and hornblende is very slight. Whichever of the names may be the more ap- 
propriate, the vast extent of the rock, will be a surprise to geologists and mine- 
ralogists who may visit the locality. Diallage is not abundant in this country, 
while anthophyllite has been regarded as rather a scarce mineral. This locality 
will famish enough of the material to build a city. The exposure of the rock at 
the top of the hill is now nearly excluded from view by the dense growth of 
young timber. It is shown, however, suflficiently well in the annexed litho- 
graphed drawing. The great number of boulders of trap and of this associated 
rock that lie scattered over the side of the hill, attest the force with which the 
matter of these rocks was upheaved. 

This new unstratified rock also constitutes a part of the rocky exposure in 
Edgmont township, well known as Castle Rock, but the connection between it 
and the trap cannot be so well seen at this place as at the exposure first men- 
tioned. 

The new rock as it appears in the dyke near Hippie's, and in the scattered 
boulders round about, is strictly unstratified, but isolated rocks very similar in 
appearance are found adjacent to this exposure of serpentine in which a lami- 
nated structure is very apparent. I have not met with these laminated rocks in 
place. 

Near the Yellow Springs road, bordering this serpentine, there may be seen 
a thin stratum of gneiss, very fine in its texture, and of an unusually white 
color. This rock, upon close inspection, will be found to have taken into its 
composition a portion of light-colored talc. 



GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, 411 

Fragments of a rough, porous, silicious rock, generally very ferruginous, pro- 
■vincially termed "Honeycomb stone," are found strewed around this serpentine. 
Fragments of this unsightly rock are associated with all our developments of 
serpentine of any extent, and as they are found in the greatest profusion around 
the serpentine disti'ict of Middletown, the rock will be described in connection 
with that tract. 

The minerals of the serpentine will be given in the general catalogue of the 
minerals of the County, but it may be remarked that in the northeastern part of 
the exposure under consideration, magnetic iron ore is found in considerable 
quantities, apparently interstratified with the serpentine rock. In the same 
vicinity the serpentine is of a more magnesian character. 

Proceeding southwesterly towards Crum Creek, the true serpentine disappears, 
but the talcose strata are extended, and can be traced for a considerable dis- 
tance in the direction of the " Blue Hill" serpentine in Upper Providence. It 
is in this extension that some of these strata assume a more steatitic character, 
but no soapstone has been found of a quality sufficiently good to be quarried 
for the uses to which this material is generally applied. Thin strata of a green 
colored talcose slate sometimes alternate with the mica slate of this vicinity. 

The exposure of serpentine known as "Blue Hill" is not large, but at the 
point specially bearing that name, the rock does not present itself in any ques- 
tionable shape. If any part of the rock near Morgan's Corner can be regarded 
as " true injected igneous serpentine" the plutonic origin of the serpentine at 
Blue Hill cannot be doubted. The rock is very much divided by seams, some 
of which are filled with amianthus. 

The next exposure of serpentine in order is the large tract in Middletown. It 
is the largest development of this rock in the County, and particularly so in its 
dimensions across the regular strata of that district. Where it is exposed or 
approaches the surface very nearly, it constitutes what is known as the "Bar- 
rens " of Middletown, 

The "Honeycomb" stones before mentioned are spread around this serpentine 
in rather inconvenient profusion. Their origin has been a matter of wonder, as 
they have not been found in place, but are always seen scattered about as a kind 
of out-liers on the flanks of the serpentine. Their appearance in many instances 
resemble the slag of a furnace, and if we cannot conclude that they have resulted 
from the metamorphism of a ferro-silicious stratum of rock by the application of 
a high degree of heat, accompanied by the emission of gaseous matter, would it 
be unreasonable to regard them as the slag thrown oft' from the surface of a 
mass of melted serpentine? The apparent laminated structure of some of these 
fragments of " Honeycomb stone " favor the former theory, but furnace slags fre- 
quently exhibit the same appearance. It will therefore be safest to regard them 
as the vitreous slag of a melted mass of serpentine, until they shall have been 
discovered in situ ; and that too in connection with strata of a proper compo- 
sition, that by their metamorphism, would result in Honeycomb rock. 

The Middletown serpentine is noted for the large amount of chrome it has 
afforded. Large quantities have been obtained here within a few years past. It 
is procured in two ways, by mining, or by washing* the alluvial sand of the beds 
of streams that have passed through the serpentine. The latter is preferred, as 
the mineral is then obtained in its purity. When obtained in this state, it has 
the appearance of a shiny black sand, nearly every particle of which when 
brought under a glass is shown to be a perfect crystal. 

Beyond the serpentine proper of this district, the accompanying talcose or 
magnesian strata extend to Chester Creek, towards which they are very much 
decomposed. 

* Most of this grain chrome is found in the ancient beds of streams mixed with sand and 
gravel. These deposits are discovered in various ways, and when found, the soil and superin- 
cumbent clay are removed, and the whole material of the deposit is thrown into strong iron sieves 
■which are worked by hand under water. The sand and chrome grain pass thi-ough the sieve 
and are deposited in the vessels containing the water. The contents of these vessels are then re- 
moved to the " wash-house," where ti'oughs are provided, through which water is caused to pass 
with considerable velocity. In these troughs, which have stops in them to create a ripple, the 
."and is washed out from the chrome grain, having a much less specific gravtiy. The washing 
has to be repeated three times before the ore is ready to be dried and packed in barrels for the 
manufacturer. 



412 GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

There are several more exposures of serpentine in tlie County whicli require 
no particular notice. Their size and location are exhibited on the Geological 
naap. 

There has now been brought in review before the reader all the underlying 
roclis of the County, in fact every thing that has the name of rock in common 
language. But in the language of the Geologist every deposit that constitutes 
a part of the crust of our planet, however soft and earthy, is a rock^ and such 
deposits often form the most interesting subjects of his investigations. 

Besides the very recent alluvial deposits of mud and sand along the margin of 
the river, which will require no particular notice, we have two distinct deposits 
of clay, gravel, and sand, of different ages, resting unconformably on the rocks 
that have been noticed, — the strata of the solid rocks having generally a dip ap- 
proaching to vertical, while the distinctive lamina of these more recent beds do 
not vary much from horizontal. On the Geological map of the State survey one 
of these deposits is designated as " rf«7z<ymOT," the other has neither been laid 
down on the map nor noticed in the text. It need hardly be mentioned that 
both deposits were formed when the spots they occupy were submerged, consti- 
tuting the bottom of a body of water of no great depth. 

The beds of one of these deposits occupy a portion of the eastern part of the 
County above what has been called the " water shade," (and which might with 
no impropriety be termed the " ancient river terrace,") while those of the other 
are spread over nearly the whole space between the base of this terrace and the 
river, the exception being on the margins of streams, where its loose materials 
have been removed. 

It was not till about fifteen years ago that any such difference was observed 
by me between these upper and lower beds as would suggest a difference in 
their age, and the conditions under which they were deposited. Such a differ- 
ence does, however, exist, and it is of a character to elicit speculations in respect 
to the remote geological condition of this section of country, and its passage 
from that condition to its present, of the highest interest. 

In their general aspect the deposits have no striking difference, except the one 
nearest the river presents a larger proportion of clay beds, and the quality of the 
clay is much superior, being generally of the kind known as " brick clay." 

A close examination of the upper iDcds of gravel will show that the materials 
composing them (mostly quartz) have been derived from the oldest rocks. No 
such particular examination of these beds has been made as to justify a positive 
denial of the existence in them of matter derived from rocks of a later formation, 
but it may be asserted with confidence that if such matter does exist, it is in 
excessively minute proportions. Of the upper beds, only the very remnants 
remain. To such a great extent have they been washed away, that they are only 
found of any great thickness, at a few high points in the district of country over 
which they are spread, such -as Sandy Bank near Media, and the Presbyterian 
meeting-house in Mai'ple. For a considerable space along the margins of the 
streams throughout the whole district, all, or nearly all of this deposit has been 
washed away ; the soil there being formed from the decomposition of the under- 
lying rocks in place. 

Now, the lower beds, instead of being free from pebbles of the later rocks, in 
some places abound in them. These are mostly from the disintegration of sand- 
stone rocks ; and among them, water-worn blocks of sandstone of a considerable 
size are frequently found. It is not difficult to point to the parent rock, that by 
its disintegration, furnished the sandstone pebbles and water-worn blocks to 
these lower beds, but it is not so easy to explain why a supply of the same 
materials was withheld from the gravel beds of the upper deposit. 

But one explanation has occurred to the author, and that rests upon the suppo- 
sition that this section of our continent was gradually upheaved from its former 
submerged condition. When the upper beds were formed, no disintegration of 
the sandstone rocks had occurred, or if it had, there was no current to transport 
the resulting materials in the direction of the upper beds. They therefore 
necessarily' consist of the disintegrated materials of the older rocks upon which 
they rest, or of the same class of rocks found in the immediate vicinity. 



GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 413 

A further upheaval of the land followed, perhaps somewhat paroxysmal in its 
character, that placed the upper beds out of reach of all currents, but leaving 
the country occupied by the lower beds still under water, and at the same time 
subjecting the sandstone rocks north of us to disintegration. A current was 
established that swept over these rocks, and in its course over the southeastern 
front of the County, (which still remained submerged,) and carried with it these 
more distant disintegrated materials, to be mingled with the accumulated waste- 
age of the rocks in the vicinity. The presence of the pebbles in these lower 
beds is not the only evidence of this current and its direction. The water-worn 
blocks of hard sandstone are larger and more numerous in thp vicinity of Phila- 
delphia, than they are in the vicinity of Darby. Still lower down they are again 
smaller, and probably disappear before we reach the circular line, where even 
gravel beds are scarce. 

Another upheaval in its turn placed these lower beds above water. Whether 
it was gradual or sudden can only be a matter of conjecture, but there is unmis- 
takeable evidence, that this upward movement did not cease till the land was 
higher above the water than the position it now occupies. TJnmistakeable 
evidence also exists that there has been a subsidence in the land constituting the 
southern margin of the County, and there are those who believe that this subsi- 
dence, however slow it may be, is still in progress. 

The proof of this subsidence rests upon a fact not generally known, and was 
only brought to the knowledge of the author within a few years past. This fact 
is the existence of the remains of an ancient cedar swamp on the marsh of Tmi- 
cum Island that would now be under tide-water but for the meadow banks. The 
white cedar, (Oupressus thyoides, Michz.) as is well known, only grows with vigor 
in sphagnous swamps that are abundantly supplied with spring water. There 
is proof at hand to show that this ancient swamp was once provided with all 
the conditions necessary to insure the thrifty growth of its cedars. Internal 
terrestrial forces had adapted the land to their growth. Planted by the baud of 
nature, they grew and flourished for ages. A subsidence of the land ensues ; 
they are overwhelmed by the tide, die out, and but for the almost miraculous 
dui'ability of their timber, not a vestige of these once stately trees would remain 
to mark the place of their growth. As it is, but a few stumps and a few trunks 
are visible at the surface, but doubtless many more are buried in the marsh. 

The relics of this swamp was pointed out to me by Sketchley Morton, Esq., of 
Springfield, who informed me that his attention had been called to it by his 
father many years since. 

Nearly all the accounts we have of the fort built on Tinicum Island by Gov. 
Printz, represent (in the English translation) that it was built of Hemlock logs. 
This is unquestionably a mistake, as no hemlock, beyond a few scattering, 
stunted trees, ever grew in ttiis part of the country, and none in the vicinity of 
Tinicum. It has occurred to me, that at the time Printz came to this country, 
large numbers of the cedar logs of this ancient swamp were lying on the sur- 
face of the mud, and that this early Swedish fortress was built of these logs. 
It will be remembered that the fort accidentally took fire and was burned, a 
circumstance very likely to happen, if built of cedar logs after they had become 
dry ; but hemlock logs rot before they dry sufiiciently to ignite. Part of the old 
Ferry-house, at Darby Creek Ferry, within a few hundred yards of the site of the 
ancient Cedar Swamp, and erected in 1694, is built of white cedar logs, which 
are still in a perfect state of preservation. Another very old house in the imme- 
diate neighborhood is built of the same timber. It is not probable that the 
timber for these humble edifices was brought from distant places in Jersey at 
that early day, and the fact of their construction out of cedar is almost conclu- 
sive that there was no scarcity of cedar logs strewed on the surface near the 
spot where the trees had grown. Such logs are still often encountered in digging 
the marsh ditches in this vicinity. 



414 GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

MINEEAL LOCALITIES OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

QoARTZ. (Common.) Abundant throughout the mica slate districts of the County. 

Limpid Quaetz. Upper Darbj', near the Howard House. 

Smoky Quartz. Upper Darby, nea,r the Garrett Road Toll-gate, and also near 
Kellyville School-house. 

Blue Quartz. Radnor, near the Friends' Meeting-house, and also near Evans' 
School-house. 

Ferruginous Quartz, found in the honeycomb stone that accompanies the ser- 
pentine : most abundant in Middletown. 

Amethyst. Aston, near Village Green ; and Upper Providence, near the Rock 
House. 

Green Quartz. This mineral is found at Blue Hill, in small aggregated masses 
of crystals, some having perfect terminal faces ; also in radiated masses. 

Chalcedony. Found mostly in the honeycomb rock of the serpentine, in Marple, 
Middletown, &c. 

Jasper. Found as the next above ; generally of a yellow color, and sometimes 
striped. It is most abundant in Middletown. 

Drusy Quartz. Found as the next above. 

Corundum. Near the Black Horse Tavern, in Middletown. 

Feldspar. (Common.) Abundant throughout the County, in large granitic veins ; 
of a white color in Birmingham, near the circular line, where it has 
been quarried and used for making porcelain ; also on Thos. Rees' farm, 
near Blue Hill; of a green color, at Mineral Hill, in Middletown; of a 
flesh color, at the old Molybdena mine, on Chester Creek, above Upland. 

Moonstone. Mineral Hill, in Middletown. 

Limestone. (Compact Magnesian.) Radnor, near Morgan's Corner. 

" (Crystalline Primary.) At the old quariy in Birmingham. 

Mica. Generally distributed throughout the County. It has been found in large 
pieces in Aston, Upper Darby, and Haverford ; in low prisms in Con- 
cord ; and of a deep rich black color in Middletown, near the Black 
Horse Tavern ; of a green color, at the old mine, above Upland, on 
Chester Creek. 

BucKHOLDZiTE. Birmingham township. 

Beryl. In large granitic veins, in the quarries of Chester and Ridley town- 
ships ; also in Springfield and Upper Darby. 

Chlorite. In nodules from the trap rocks of Upper Darby, where it is granu- 
lar. It is also found adjacent to several of the exposures of serpentine, 
where it is slaty. Near Glen Riddle it is scaly. 

RuTiLE. Edgmont township, in quartz. 

Kyanite. Darby Creek Ferry, where specimens of great beauty have been ob- 
tained ; above the Post road, opposite to the Ferry, where it composes 
a large proportion of a micaceous rock ; on the farm of Mrs. Pritchett, 
in Haverford, where it is associated with staurotide in mica slate, and 
near Darby, on Mount Zion Hill. 

Staurotide. In Haverford, as mentioned in the next above ; and also in the 
same township, east of the Friends' Meeting-house, in decomposed mica 
slate with garnets. 

Anthophylite. In great abundance near Henry Hippie's, in Marple, and at 
Castle Rock. Prof. Booth regards this mineral rather as Diallage 
rock. It is found laminated or stratified in Radnor. This mineral is 
also found near the old lime-kiln in Newtown. 

Actynolite. Generally found associated with serpentine; in Middletown, near 
the Black Horse Tavern : near Blue Hill, in Upper Providence, and in 
various parts of the serpentine exposure in Marple and Radnor, but 
not so abundant. 

Serpentine. See the geological map. It may be found in great variety at an 
old quarry on the Yellow Springs road. Precious serpentine has been 
found in this locality. 

Tremolite. Same localities as actynolite ; and in addition it is found near the 
old lime-kiln, on the West Chester road, in Newtown. 



GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 415 

AsBESTUS. That silky variety known as amianthus, is most abundant at Blue 
Hill. The ligniform variety is most plentiful in Middletown; but the 
mineral can be obtained in some form at most of the exposures of ser- 
pentine. 

Magnbsite. At most of the exposures of serpentine, a mineral is found that 
passes under this name. 

Talc. This mineral also abounds in the serpentine or in the subjacent strata. 
It passes into a kind of soapstone, north of Palmer's mill, in Marple. 

PiCROLiTE. Found at several of the serpentine exposures in the County. In 
Radnor, near the Yellow Springs road, it is of a dark green color. 

Andalusite. In Upper Providence, near the Rock House, and in Springfield, 
half a mile north of West Dale. 

SiLLiMANiTE. Was found in one of the stone quarries near Chester. 

Garnet. Large crystals of this mineral have been found in Middletown, nearly 
opposite Bishop's mill, with replaced angles. Common garnets of 
moderate size are found in the quarry of Dr. George Smith, in Upper 
Darby, and on the Pritchett farm, in Haverford. Those of a small size, 
in immense numbers, exhibiting the appearance of dark-colored gravel, 
cover the bed of the road east of Friends' Meeting-house, Haverford. 

Hornblende. Near Crum Creek, in Newtown, and at various other places in 
the County where trappean rocks abound. 

Ptrope. In Concord township, on Green's Creek, above Peter's mill-dam. 

Chrome Ore. This valuable mineral is found in all the large exposures of 
serpentine in the County, but only in that of Middletown in sufficient 
quantities to be worked to advantage. The manner of washing the ore 
is explained in a note page 411. 

Brown Hematite. Found in connection with all the large exposures of ser- 
pentine. 

Magnetic Iron. On the Yellow Springs road, in Radnor. 

Plumbago. Very impure, is found in the Lawrence road, on the hill west of 
Langford Run. 

SuLPHURET OF MoLYBDENA. In an old mine on Chester Creek above Upland. 

Ferruginous Sulph. Copper. Same locality. 

Bog Iron Ore. This is found in different deposits of clay throughout the 
County. Good specimens are found in the clay land north of Darby. 

ZoisiTE. Found in the broken stone on the Delaware County turnpike, near 
Abram Powell's dwelling. 

Pipe Clay. At the old lime quarry in Birmingham. 

Apatite. Ridley, in Garnet. 

Schorl. Found in large granitic veins, where they occur ; in aggregated masses 
of crystals northeast of the Rock House, in Upper Providence. 

OoHREOUS Clay. This deeply tinged yellow clay is found in the bed of the 
Delaware River, between flood and ebb tide, just below the Tinicum 
hotel. This clay is doubtless referred to by Campanius, when he says : 
"on the shore of Tennakongs, there is found a gamboge which is as 
good as yellow ochre ; but it is not used in the country, except to color 
deer skins." p. 51. 

Spinellb. In minute octohedral crystals, at Blue Hill. 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTT. 



The flora of Delaware County agrees so nearly with that of Chester County, 
and the latter having been so fully displayed by Dr. Darlington in the last edition 
of his Flora Cestrica, the necessity of including in this work even a catalogue of 
our plants may be doubted. There is, however, some difference between the 
floras of the two counties, occasioned chiefly by the tide-water district in this 
County, and the slate-hills and limestone of Chester County. It was therefore 
concluded to give a simple catalogue of the Phcenogamous, or flowering plants 
of Delaware County, embracing the higher orders of our Cryptogamous, or 
flowerless plants, with the localities of some of the more rare species. In arrang- 
ing the catalogue, Gray's " Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States," 
(second edition,) has been substantially followed. A few plants have been put 
in the catalogue on the authority of other persons, and a few possiblj'' may have 
been included which do not grow in the County, but it is trusted that the list 
will be found generally correct. To Dr. Thomas P. James of Philadelphia, I am 
indebted for that part of the catalogue which includes the mosses. 



CATALOGUE.* 

SERIES I. 

PIl^NOGAMOUS OR FLOWERING PLANTS. 
CLASS I.— DICOTYLEDONOUS OR EXOGENOUS PLANTS. 



Caltha, L. 

palustris, L. (Marsh Marigold.) 
Aquilbgia, L. 

Canadensis, L. (Wild Columbine.) 
Delphinum, L. 

Co7isolida, L. (Lark-spur.) 
Hydrastis, L. 

Canadensis, L. (Yellow-root.) 

CiMICIFUGA, L. 

racemosa,! Ell. (Black-snakeroot.) 

ORDER MAGNOLIACE^. 

Magnolia, L. 

glauca, L. (Sweet Bay), Tinicum. 
Liriodendron, L. 

Tulipifera, L. (Tulip-poplar.) 

ORDER ANONACE^. 

AsiMiNA, Adans. 

triloba, Dunal. (Papaw.) Near Dar- 
by creek, on the farm of the 
heirs of I. Maris, dec'd, in Mar- 
pie township. 

* Species in italics are naturalized. 

t A remarkable variety of this plant, with finely dissected leaves, has been found growing in 
Upper Darby. , It has not yet been observed to flower. 



ORDER RANUNCULACE^. 

Clematis, L. 

Virginiana, (Virgin's Bower.) 

Anemone, L. 

Virginiana, L. (Tall Anemone.) 
nemorosa. L. (Wind-flower.) 

Hepatica, Dill. 

triloba, Chaix. (Liverwort.) 

Thalictrum, Tourn. 

anemonoides, Michx. (Anemone.) 
dioicum, L. (Meadow-rue.) 
Cornuti, L. (Meadow-rue.) 

Ranunculus, L. 

aquatilas, L. (Floating Crow-foot.) 
Flaramula, L. (Spearwort.) 
abortivus, L. (Small-flowered.) 
sceleratus, L. (Cellery-leaved.) 
recurvatus, Poir. 
Pennsylvanicus, L. 
fascicularis, Muhl. 
repens, L. 

bulbosus, Jj. (Common Butter-cup.) 
acris, L. (Tall Crow-foot.) 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



417 



ORDER MENISPERMACE^. 
Menispermum, L. 

Canadense. L. (Moon-seed.) 

ORDER BERBERIDACE^. 

Caulophyllum, Michx. 

thalictroides, Michx. (Pappoose- 
root.) 
Podophyllum, L. 

peltatum, L. (May Apple.) 

ORDER CABOMBACE^. 

Brasenia, Schreber. 
peltata, Pursh. 

ORDER NYMPH^ACE^. 

NuPHAR, Smith. 

advena, Ait. (Splatter-dock.) 

ORDER SARRACENIACEiE. 

Sarracenia, Tour. 

purpurea, L. (Side-saddle Flower.) 
Tinicum, very rare. 

ORDER PAP AVERAGES. 

Papater, L. 

somniferum, L. (Common poppy.) 
dubium^ L. "I Found occasionally 
Shceas, W. j in cultivated fields. 

Argemone, L. 

Mezicana, L. (Mexican poppy.) 

Chelidonium, L. 

maj'us, L. (Celandine.) 

Sanguinaria, Dill. 

Canadensis, L. (Blood-root.) 

ORDER FUMARIACE^. 
DiCENTRA, Bork. 

Cucullaria, DC. (Dutchman's 
Breeches.) 

FCMARIA, L. 

officinalis, L. (Common Fumitory.) 

ORDER CRUCIFER^. 
Nasturtium, R. Br. 

pulustre, DC. (Marsh Cress.) 
Shores of the Delaware. 
Gardamine, L. 

rhomboidea, DC. (Spring Cress.) 

hirsuta, L. 

rotundifolia, Michx. (American 
Water Cress.) 
Dentaria, L. 

laciniata, Muhl. 
Arabis, L. 

lyrata, L. 

Canadensis, L. (Sickle-pod.) 

laevigata, DC 

27 



Barbarea, R. Br. 

vulgaris, R. Br. 
Sisymbrium, L. 

officinale, Scop. (Hedge Mustard.) 

Thalianum, Gaud. 

canescens, Nutt. 
SiNAPis, Tourn. 

alba, L. (White Mustard.) 

nigra, L. Com. Mustard.) 
Draba, L. 

verna, L. (Whitlow-grass.) 

COOHLEARIA, Toum. 

armoracia, L. (Horse-radish.) 
Camelina, Crantz. 

sativa, Crantz. (Wild Flax.) 
Lepidium, L. 

virginicum, L. (Pepper-grass.) 

campestre, L. 
Capsella, Vent. 

Bursa-pasioris, Moench. (Shep- 
herd's Purse.) 

ORDER VIOLACE^. 

SoLEA, Ging. 

concolor, Ging. (Green Violet.) 
Viola. 

rotundifolia, Michx. (Round-leav- 
ed.) 

lanceolata, L. 

primiilffifolia, L. 

blanda, Willd. (Sweet white.) 

cucullata, Ait. (Common blue.) 

palmata, L. 

sagittata, Ait. 

pedata, L. • On Mica Slate, com- 
mon. 

Muhlenbergii, Torr. 

striata, Ait. 

pubescens, Ait. 

ORDER CISTACEiE. 
Helianthemum, Tourn. 

Canadense, Michx. 
Lechea, L. 

major, Michx. 

minor, Lam. 

ORDER DROCERACE^. 
Drosera, L. 

rotundifolia, L. (Sundew.) Tini- 
cum, abundant. 

ORDER HYPERIACE^. 
Ascyrum, L. 

Crux-Andreie, L. (St. Andrew's 
cross.) 
Hypericum, L. 

perforatum,!!. (Common St. John's- 

wort.) 
corymbosum, Muhl. 



418 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



adpressum, Barton, 
mutilum, L. 
Canadense, L. 

Sarothra, Michx. (Pine weed.) 
Elodba, Pursh. 

Virginica, Nutt. 

ORDER CARYOPHYLLACE^. 

DiANTHUS, L. 

Armeria, L. (Deptford pink.) 
Upper Providence, not uncom- 
mon.) 
Saponaria, L. 

officinalis, L. (Bouncing Bet.) 

SiLENB, L. 

stellata, Ait. 

antirrhina, L. 
Agrostemma, L. 

Gtthago, L. (Common wheat Coc- 
kle.) 
Arenaria, L. 

serpyllifolia, L. (Sandwort.) 
Stellaria, L. 

media, Smith. (Common Chick- 
weed.) 

pubera, Michx. (Great Chickweed.) 

longifolia, Muhl. 

uliginosa, Murr. (Swamp Stitch- 
wort.) 
Oeeastium, L. 

vulgatum, L. 

viscosum, L. 

oblongifolium, Terr. Abundant on 

. serpentine. 

arvense, L. 

nutans, Raf. 
Anychia, Michx. 

dichotoma, Michx. (Forked Chick- 
weed.) 

MULLUGO, L. 

verticillata, L. (Carpetweed.) 

ORDER PORTULACACEiE. 

Portulaca, Tourn. 

oleracea, L. (Common Purslane.) 
Talinum, Adans. 

teretifolium, Pursh. On serpentine. 
Claytonia, L. 

Virginica, L. (Spring Beauty.) 

ORDER MALVACE^. 

SiDA, L. 

spinosa, L. 
Aeutilon, Tourn. 

Avicennce, Gaertn. 
Malta, L. 

roiundifoUa, L, (Cotamon Mallow.) 



Hibiscus, L. 

Moscheutos, L. (Rose Mallow.) 

Local, Tinicum. 
Trionum, L. Near Clifton Hall, 

Insane Hospital, Upper Darby. 

ORDER TILIACE^. 

TiLIA, L. 

Americana, L. (American Linden.) 
Darby creek, and other streams 
— rare. 

ORDER LINACE^. 

LiNUM, L. 

virginianum, L. (Wild flax.) 
Bootii. 

ORDER OXALIDACE^. 

OXALIS, L. 

violacea, L. (Violet Sorrel.) 
stricta, L. (Yellow Sorrel.) 

ORDER GERANIACEiE. 

Geranium, L. 

maculatum, L. (Cranesbill.) 

Carolinianum, L. 
Erodium, L'Her. 

conium. 

ORDER BALSAMINACE^. 

Impatiens, L. 

pallida, Nutt. (Pale Touch-me- 
not.) 

fulva, Nutt. (Spotted Touch-me- 
not.) 

ORDER LIMNANTHACEiE. 

Flcerkea, Willd. 

proserpinacoides, Willd. 

ORDER RUTACE^. 

AiLANTHus, Desf. 

glandulosus, Desf. (Paradise-tree.) 

ORDER ANACARDIACE^. 

Rhus, L. 

typhina. L. (Staghorn Sumac.) 
glabra, L. (Common Sumac.) 
Copallina, L. 

venenata, DC. (Poison Sumac.) 
Toxicodendron, L. (Poison Vine.) 

ORDER VITACE^. 

ViTis, Tourn. 

Labrusca, L. (Fox-grape.) 
aestivalis, Michx. (Chicken-grape.) 
cordifolia, Michx. 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



419 



Ampblopsis, Michx. 

quinquefolia, Michx. (American 

Ivy.) 

ORDER RHAMNACE^. 

Rhamnus, Tourn. 

catharticus, L. (Buckthorn.) Up- 
per Darby — fully naturalized. 
Ceanothus, L. 

Americanus, L. (Jersey Tea.) 

ORDER CELASTRACEiE. 
Celastrus, L. 

scandens, L. (Waxwork.) 
EuoNTMUS, Tourn. 

atropurpureus Jacq. (Burning- 
bush.) 
Americanus, L. (Strawberry-tree.) 

ORDER SAPINDACB^. 
Staphylea, L. 

trifolia, L. (Bladder-nut.) 
Acer, Tourn. 

saccharinum, Wang. (Sugar Ma- 
ple.)' Possibly not a native of 
Delaware County, 
rubrum, L. (Red Maple.) 

ORDER POLYGALACEiE. 
Polygala, Tourn. 
sanguinea, L. 

cruciata, L. (Tinicum, abundant.) 
Yerticillata, L. 
ambigua, Nutt. 

Senega, L. (Seneca snake-root.) 
— In the northwest part of the 
County — rare. 

■ ORDER LEGUMINOS^. 
LupiNUS, Tourn. 

perennis, L. (Wild Lupin.) Upper 
Providence and S. Valley Hill. 
Crotalaria, L, 

sagittalis, L. 
Trifolium, L. 

arvense, L. (Rabbit-foot clover.) 
pratense, L, (Red Clover.) 
repens, L. (White Clover.) Indi- 
genous northward, 
procumbens, L. (Low Hop Clover.) 
agrarium, L. (Large Hop Clover.) 
Melilotus, Tourn. 
alba, Lam. 

Partially naturalized. 
Medioago, L. 

sativa, L. (Lucerne.) This plant 
, maintains itself where intro- 

duced. 
iribuloides, W. In the neighbor- 
hood of Todmorden — rare. 



ROBINA, L. 

Pseudacacia, L. (Common Locust.) 

viscosa, Vent. (Clammy Locust.) 
Tephrosia, Pers. 

Virginiana, Pers. Hills near the 
Gulf. 
Desmodium, DO. 

nudiflorum, DC. 

acuminatum, DC. 

rotundifolium, DO. 

cuspidatum, Tor. & Gray. 

paniculatum, DC. 

rigidum, DC. 

Dillenii, Darlingt. 

ciliare, DC. 

viridiflorum, Beck. 

Marylandicum, Boot. 

canescens, DC. 
Lbspedeza, Michx. 

procumbens, Michx. 

repens. Tor. & Gray. 

capitata, Michx. 

violacea, Pers. Three varieties. 

hirta, Ell. 

Stuvei, Nutt. 
Stylosanthes, Swartz. 

elatior, Swartz. (Pencil-flower.) 
ViciA, Tourn. 

sativa, L. 

Cracca, L. 
Lathyrus, L. 

venosus, Muhl. 

palustris, L. var. myrtifolius. 
Phaseolus, L. 

perennis, Walt. (Wild Bean.) 

helvolus, L. 
Apios, Boerh. 

tuberosa, Moench. 
Amphicarp^a, Ell. 

monoica, Nutt. 
Baptisia, Vent. 

tinctoria, R. Br. (Wild Indigo.) 
Cercis, L. 

Canadensis, L. (Judas-tree.) 
Cassia, L. 

Marylandica, L. (Wild Senna.) 

Chamsecrista, L. 

nictitans,L. (Wild Sensitive-plant.) 
Gleditschia, L. 

triacanthos, L, (Honey Locust.) 

ORDER ROSACEA. 

Prunus, L. 

Americana, Marsh. (Red Plum.) 
spinosa, L. (Sloe.) On the lands 

of the Insane Hospital, Upper 

Darby. 
Chicasa, Mich. (Chicasaw Plum.) 
avium, L. (The original of the 

English Cherries.) 



420 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



vulgaris, Mill. (Pie and Morello 
Cherries.) 

Virginiana, L. (Wild Cherry.) 

serotina, Bhrhart. (Black Wild- 
cherry.) 
Spirea, L. 

opulifolia, L. (Nine-bark.) Rare. 

salicifolia, L. 
GiLLENiA, Moench. • 

trifoliata, Moench. 
Agrimonia, Tourn. 

Eupatoria, L. 

parviflora, Ait. 
Sanguisorba, L. 

Canadensis, L. 
Gkcm, L. 

Virginianum, L. 

agrimonioides, Pursh. 

POTENTILLA, L. 

Norvegica, L. 

Canadensis, L. (Cinque-Foil.) 
Pragaria, Tourn. 

Virginiana, Ehrbart. (Strawberry.) 
Vesca, L. (Cultivated Strawberry.) 
RuBus, L. 

occidentalis, L. (Com. Raspberry.) 
villosus, Ait. (High Blackberry.) 
Canadensis, L. (Dewberry.) 
hispidus, L. (Swamp Blackberry.) 
cuneifolius, Pursh. (Sand Black- 
berry. 
RosA', Tourn. 

Carolina, L. (Swamp Rose.) 
lucida, Ebrhart. (Wild Rose.) 
rubiginosa, L. (Sweet-briar.) 
Orat^gus, L. 

cordata. Ait. (Washington Thorn.) 
punctata, Jaq. 
flava, Ait. (Summer Haw.) 
Crus-galli, L. (Cockspur Thorn.) 
oxycanlha, Michx. (English Haw- 
thorn.) 
coccinea, L. (Scarlet-fruited 
Thorn. 
Pyrus, L. 

coronaria, L. (American Crab- 
Apple.) This tree was rather 
common forty years ago in De- 
laware County, but is now al- 
most extinct, 
arbutifolia, L. (Choke-berry.) 
Mains, L. (Apple-tree.) 
communis, L. Pear. 
Amelanchiee, Medic. 

Canadensis, Torr. & Gray. (Ser- 
vice-berry.) 
Cydonia, Tourn. 

vulgaris, Pers. (Quince.) 



ORDER MELASTOMAOEJE. 

Rhexia, L. 

virginica, L. 

ORDER LYTHRACEiE. 
Ammannia, Houston. 

hurailis, Michx. 
Deoodon, Gmelin. 

verticillatum, Gmelin. Rare. 
CuPHEA, Jacq. 

viscosissima, Jacq. 

ORDER ONAGRACEiE. 

Epilobium, L. 

palustre, L. 

coloratura, Muhl. 
Oenothera, L. 

biennis, L. (Evening Primrose.) 

fruticosa, L. 

pumila, L. 
Gaura, L. 

biennis, L. 

LUDWIGIA, L. 

alternifolia, L. 
palustris. Ell. 
CiRCEA, Tourn. 

Lutetiana, L. (Enchanter's Night- 
shade.) 

ORDER GROSSULACE^. 

RiBES, Tourn. 

floridum, L. (Wild Black Cur- 
rant.) 
rubrum, L. (Red Currant.) 
nigrum, L. (Garden Black Currant.) 

ORDER CUCURBITACE^. 

SiCYOS, L. 

angulatus, L. 

ORDER CRASSULACE.^. 

Sedum, L. 

ternatum, Michx. On Ridley Creek, 
— rare 
Penthorum, Gronov. 

sedoides, L. 

ORDER SAXIFRAGES. 

Saxifraga, L. 

Virginiensis, Michx. (Early Saxi- 
frage.) 

Pennsylvanica, L. (Swamp Saxi- 
frage.) 
Heuchera, L. 

Americana, L. (Alum Root.) 
MiTELLA, Tourn. 

diphylla, L. (Bishop's Cap.) 
Chrysosplenium, Tourn. 

Americanum, Schwein. 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



421 



ORDER HAMAMELACE^. 

Hamamelis, L. 

Virginica, L. (Witch-Hazel.) 

LiQUIDAMBAR, L. 

styraciflua, L. (Sweet Gum.) — 
Mostly found on the clay lands, 
not very . far from the Dela- 
ware. 

ORDER UMBELLIFER^, 

Hydrocotyle, Tourn. 

Americana, L. 

umbellata, L. 
Sanicula, Tourn. 

Canadensis, L. 

Marilandica, L. 
Daucus, Tourn. 

Carota, L. 
Heeacleum, L. 

lanatum, Michx. (Cow Parsnip.) 
Pastinaca, Tourn. 

sativa, L. (Parsnip.) 
Archemora, DC. 

rigida, DC. 
Archangelica, Hoffm. 

hirsuta, Torr & Gray. 

atropurpurea, Hofifm. 
Thaspium, Nutt. 

barbinode, Nutt. 

trifoliatum, var: atropurpureum, 
Torr & Gray. 
FcENicuLUM, Adans. 

vulgare, Gsertn, (Fennel.) Natu- 
ralized in some places. 

CiCUTA, L. 

maculata, L. (Cowbane.) 
Cryptot^nia, DC. 

Canadensis, DC. 
Osmorrhiza, Raf. 

longistylis, DC. ") „ ,. r^- ^ 

brevistylis;DC.}S^^^*^^<^^ly- 

ORDER ARALIACE^. 

Aralia, Tourn. 
spinosa, L. 

racemosa, L. (Spikenard.) 
nudicaulis, L. 
trifolia, Gray. 

ORDER CORNACE^. 

CoRNUS, Tourn. 

florida, L. (Dogwood.) 

sericea, L. 

paniculata, L'Her. 

alternifolia, L. 
Nyssa, L. 

multiflora, Wang. (Sour Gum.) 



ORDER CAPRIFOLIACE^. 

Lonicera, L. 

semper virens, Ait. (Coral Honey- 
suckle.) 
DiERViLLA, Tourn. 

trifida, Moench. 
Triosteum, L. 

perfoliatum, (Horse Gentian.) 
'Sambucus, Tourn. 

Canadensis, L. (Common Elder,) 
ViBURxnM, L. 

nudum, L. Tinicum Island. 

prunifolium, L. (Black Haw.) 

Lentago, L. 

dentatum, L. (Arrow-wood.) 

acerifolium, L. 

ORDER RUBIACE^. 

Galium, L. 

Aparine, L. (Goose-Grass.) 
asprellum, Michx. 
trifidum, L. 
triflorum, Michx. 
' pilosum, Ait. 

circsezans, Michx. (Wild Liquor- 
ice.) 
lanceolatum, Torr. 

DiODIA, L 

teres, Walt. 
Cephalanthus, L. 

occidentalis, L. (Button-Bush.) 

MiTCHELLA, L. 

repens, L. (Partridge-berry.) 

OliDENLANDIA, Plum. 

cserulea. Hooker. (Innocence.) 

ORDER VALERINACE^. 

Fedia, Gasrtn. 

oliioria, Vahl. (Corn-salad.) 

ORDER DIPSACE^. 

DiPSACus, Tourn. 

sylvestris, Mill. (Wild Teasel.) 

ORDER COMPOSITE. 

Vernonia, Schreb. 

Noveboracensis, Willd. (Iron- 
weed.) 
Elephantopus, L. 

Carolinianus, Willd. (Elephant's- 
foot.) Chester township. 
Liatris, Schreb. 
spicata, Willd. 

.KUHNIA, L. 

eupatorioides, L. (Very rare.) 
EuPATORiuM, Tourn. 
purpureum, L. 

trifolium, a well-marked var: of 
E. purpureum. Tinicum. 



422 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



teucrifolium, Willd. 
rotimdifolium, L. 
sessilifolium, L. 
perfoliatum, L. (Boneset.) 
ageratoides, L. 
aromaticum, L. 
MiKANIA, Willd. 
scandens, L. 

CONOCLINIUM, DC. 

coelestinum, DC. (Mist-flower.) 
Found by James Sill, Esq., near 
Media. 
TussiLAGo, Tourn. 

Farfara, L. This plant maintains 
itself pertinaciously, and spreads 
in damp soil. 
Sericocarpus, Nees. 

solidagineus, Nees. 

conyzoides, Nees. 
Aster, L. 

corymbosum. Ait. 

Radula, Ait. 

patens, Ait. 

laevis, L. 

cordifolius, L. 

undulatus, L. 

sagittifolius, Willd. 

puniceus, L. 

Tradescanti, L. 

spectabilis. Ait. 

miser, L. Ait. 

ericoides, L. 

Novce-Anglice^ L. 

simplex, Willd. 
Ebigeron, L. 

Canadense, L. 

bellidifolium, L. (Robin's Plan- 
tain.) 

Philadelphicum, L. 

annuum, Pers. 

strigosum, Muhl. 
DiPLOPAPPUS, Cass. 

linariifolius, Hook. 

umbellatus, Torr & Gray. 

amygdalinus, Torr & Gray. 

SOLIDAGO, L. 

squarrosa, Muhl. 

bicolor, L. 

patula, Muhl. 

altissima, L. 

ulmifolia, Muhl. 

latifolia, L. 

Muhlenbergii, Torr & Gray. 

csesia, L. 

rigida, L. 

sempervirens, L. Tinicum. Rather' 

abundant, 
speciosa, Nutt. 
nemoralis. Ait. 
Canadensis, L. 



^ gigantea, Ait. 

lanceolata, L. 

tenuifolia, Pursh. 
Chbysopsis. Nutti 

Mariana, Nutt. 
Inula, L. 

Helenium, L. (Elecampane.) 

POLYMNIA, L. 

Uvedalia, L. Very rare. 

Canadensis. On J,. Horton's land, 
Newtown. 
Ambrosia, Tourn. 

trifida, L. 

artemisisefolia, L. (Bitter-weed.) 
Xanthium, Tourn. 

strumarium, L. (Clot-weed.) 

spinosum, L. 
Eclipta, L. 

procumbens, Michx 
Heliopsis, Pers. 

laevis, Pers. 
Rddbeckia, L. 

lacinata, L. 

triloba, L. 

hirta, L. 

fulgida, Ait. 
Helianthds, L. 

giganteus, L. 

divaricatus, L. 

decapetalus, L. 

tracheliifolius, Willd. 

tuberosus, L. (Artichoke.) 

AOTINOMERIS, Nutt. 

squarrosa, Nutt. 
Coreopsis. L. 

trichosperma, Michx. 
BiDENS, L. 

frondosa, L. (Spanish-needles.) 

connata, Muhl. 

cernua, L. 

chrysanthemoides, Michx. 

bipinnata, L. (Spanish-needles.) 
Helbnium, L. 

autumnale, L. 
Mabuta, Cass. 

cotula^ DC. (Wild Chamomile.) 
Achillea, L. 

millefolium, L. (Yarrow.) 
Leucanthemum, Tourn. 

vulgare, Lam. (Common Daisy.) 
Matricaria, Tourn. 

Parthenium, L. (Feverfew.) Es- 
caped from gardens. 
Tanacetum, L. 

vulgare, L. (Tansey.) 
Artemisia, L. 

caudata, Michx, 
Gnaphalium, L. 

polycephalum, Michx. (Everlast- 
ing. 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



423 



aliginosum, L. 

purpureum, L. 
Anj'ennaria, Gsertn. 

margaritacea, R. Brown. 

plantaginifolia, Hook. 
FiLAGO, Tournef. 

Germanica, L. 
Erechthites, Raf. 

hieracifolia, Raf. (Fire-weed.) 
Cacalia, L. 

atriplicifolia, L. 
Senecio, L. 

aureus, L. 
CiRSiuM, Tourn. 

lanceolatum, Scop. (Com. Thistle.) 

discolor, Spreng. 

altissimum, Spreng. 

Virginianum. Michx. var. fiUipen- 
dulum, Tinicum. 

pumilum, Spreng. 

horridulum, Michx. (Tellow This- 
tle.) 

arvense, Scop. (Canada Thistle.) 
Lappa, Tourn. 

major, Gsertn. (Burdock.) 
CiCHORiuM, Tourn. 

Intybus, L. Near Whitehall. 
Krigia, Schreber. 

Yirginica, Willd. 
Cynthia, Don. 

Virginica, Don. 
HiERACiUM, Tourn. 

scabrum, Michx. 

Gronovii, L. 

venosum, L. 

paniculatum, L. 
Nabalus, Cass. 

altissimus, Hook. 

virgatus? DC. 

albus, Hook. (Rattlesnakeroot.) 
Taraxacum, Haller. 

Dem-leonis, Desf. (Dandelion.) 
Lactuca, Tourn. 

elongata, Muhl. 
MuLGEDiUM, Cass. 

accuminatum, DC. 

leucophffium, DC. 

SONCHUS, L. 

asper, Vill. 

oleraceus, L. (Sow Thistle.) 

ORDER LOBELIACE^. 

Lobelia, L. 

cardinalis, L. (Cardinal-flower.) 

syphilitica, L. 

spicata, Lam. 

Nuttallii, Roem & Sch. Tinicum. 

ORDER CAMPANULACE^. 
Campanula, Tour. 



aparinoides, Pursh. 
Americana, L. 
Specularia. Heist, 
perfoliata, DC 

ORDER ERICAOE^. 

Gaylussacia, H. B. K. 

frondosa, Torr. & Gray. 

resinosa, Torr. & Gray. (Black 
Huckleberry.) 
Vaccinium, L. 

macrocarpon. Ait. (Cranberry.) 
Sphagnous swamps, rare. 

stamineum, L. 

Pennsylvanicum, Lam. (Dwarf 
Huckleberry.) 

corymbosum, L. 

vacillans, Solander. 
Gaultheria, Kalm. 

procumbens, L. (Teaberry.) 
Epig^a, L. 

repens, L. (Trailing Arbutus.) 
Andromeda, L. 

Mariana, L. 

ligustrina, Muhl. 
Leucothoe, Don. 

racemosa, Gray. On Tinicum, 
abundant. 
Clethra, L. 

alnifolia, L. Very abundant on 
Tinicum. 
Kalmia, L. 

latifolia, L. 

angustifolia, L. Abundant on 
Tinicum. 
Azalea, Pursh. 

yiscosa, L. Very abundant on 
Tinicum. 

nudiflora, L. 
Pyrola, L. 

rotundifolia, L. 

elliptica, Nutt. 
Chimaphila, Pursh. 

umbellata, Nutt. (Pipsissewa.) 

maculata, Pursh. 

MONOTEOPA, L. 

uniflora, L. (Indian pipe.) 
hypopitys, L, 

ORDER AQUIFOLIA.CEiE. 

Ilex, L. 

opaca. Ait. (Holly.) A rare tree, 
verticillata, Gray. (Black Alder.) 

ORDER EBENAGEiE. 

DiOSPRYOS, L. 

Virginiana, L. (Persimon tree.) 



424 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



ORDER PLANTAGINACE^. 

Plantago, L. 

major, L. (Broad-leaved Plantain.) 
lanceolata, L. (Buckhorn.) 
Virginica, L. 

ORDER PRIMULACE^. 

Ltsimachia, L. 

stricta, Ait. 

quadrifolia. 

ciliata. 
Amagalis, Tourn. 

arvensis, L. 

ORDER LENTIBULACE^. 

Utricularia, L. 

vulgaris, L. (Bladderwort.) 

ORDER BIGNONIACEJE. 

Oatalpa, Scop. 

bignonioides, Walt. (Catawba tree.) 

ORDER OROBANCHACEiE. 

Epiphbgus, Nutt. 

Virginiana, Bart. (Beech drops.) 
CoNOPHOLis, Wallr. 

Americana, Wallr. 
Aphyllon, Mitchell. 

uniflorum, Torr. & Gray. 

ORDER SCROPHULARIACE^. 
Verbascum, L. 

Thapsus, L. (Com. Mullein.) 

Blattaria, L. (French Mullein.) 

lychnitis, L. Very rare. 
Linaria, Tourn. 

Canadensis, Spreng. On Tinicum. 

vulgaris. Mill. (Ranstead.) 
Scrophularia, Tourn. 

nodosa, L. 
Chelonio, Tourn. 

glabra, L. (Snake's head.) 

MiMULUS, L. 

alatus,'A^t. } Monkey-flo^yer. 
Gratiola, L. 

Virginiana, L. 
Ilysanthes, Raf. 

gratioloides, Benth. 
Hemianthus, Nutt. 

micranthemoides, Nutt. " Low 
banks of the Delaware below 
Philadelphia." Nutt. 
Veronica, L. 

Virginica, L. 

Americana, Schwenitz.. 

serpyllifolia, L. 

officinalis, L. 

peregrina, L. 



arvensis, L. 

hedercefoUa, L. On Crum Creek in 
Up. Providence. 

BUCHNERA, L. 

Americana, L. 
Gerardia, L. 

purpurea, L. 

tenuifolia, Vahl. 

fiava, L. 

quercifolia, Pursh. (Very rare.) 

pedicularia, L. 
Castilleja, Mutis. 

coccinea, Spreng. (Painted cup.) 
Pedicularis, Tourn. 

Canadensis, L. 

lanceolata, Michx. 
Mblampyrum, Tourn. 

Americanum, Michx. 

ORDER VERBENACE^. 
Verbena, L. 

hastata, L. 

urlicifolia, L. 
Phryma, L. 

leptostachya, L. 

ORDER LABIATE. 
Mentha, L. (The mints.) 

viridis, L. (Spearmint.) 

piperita, L. (Peppermint.) 

Canadensis, L. 
Teucrium, L. 

Canadense, L. 
Trichostema, L. 

dichotomum, L. (Blue curls.) 
Lycopds, L. 

Virginicus, L. 

sinuatus, L. 

CUNILA, L 

Mariana, L. (Dittany.) 
Pycnanthemum, Michx. 
incanum, Michx. 
pilosum, Nutt. 

clinopodioides, Torr. & Gray, 
muticum, Pers. 
lanceolatum, Pursh. 
linifolium, Pursh. 
Origanum, L. 

vulgare, L. (Horsemint.) Abund- 
antly naturalized in Haverford, 
Upper Darby, and Marple. 
Thymus, L. 

serpyllum, L. Abundant in many 
places. 
Melissa, L. 

officinalis, L. (Com. Balm.) Natu- 
ralized in some localities. 
Hedeoma, Pers. 

pulegioides, Pers. (American Pen- 
nyroyal. 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



425 



COLLINSONIA, L. 

Canadensis, L. 
Salvia, L, 
lyrata, L. 

MONARDA, L. 

fistulosa, L. 
LoPHANTHUs, Benth. 

nepetoides, Benth. 

scrophularigefolius, Benth. 
Nbpeta, L, 

cataria, L. (Cat-mint.) 

glecoma, Benth . (Ground Ivy.) 
Calamintha, Moench. 

clinopodium, Benth. 
Peunella, Tourn. 

vulgaris, L. 
Scutellaria, L. 

canescens, Nutt. 

pilosa, Michx. 

Integrifolia, L. 

lateriflora, L. 

nervosa, Pursh. 

galericulata, L. 
Marrubium, L. 

vulgdre, L. (Horehound.) 
Lamium, L. 

amplexicaule, L. 

purpureum, L. 
Leonurus, L. 

cardiaca, L. (Mugwort.) 
Stachys, L. 

palustris, Michx. (Var. Asper.) 
Galeopsis,L. 

Tetrahit,h. First found by the late 
Dr. Jesse Young. 

ORDER BORRAGINACE^. 

EcHiuM, Tourn. 

vulffare, L. (Blue weed.) Appear- 
ed in Delaware County within 
the last twentj'' years. 
Onosmodium, Michx. 

Virginianum, DC. (Sandy Bank.) 
Lithospermum, Tourn. 

arvense, L. 
Mertensia, Roth. 

Virginica, DC. (Western part 
of the County.) 
Myosotis, L. 

palustris. With. 

verna, Nutt. 

arvensis, L. (On Tinicum.) 
Cynoglossum, Tourn. 

officinale, L. 

Virginicum, L. 

Morisoni, DC. 

ORDER HYDROPHYLLACE^. 
Hydrophyllum, Nutt. 

Virginicum, L. (Water-leaf.) 
Canadense, L. 



ORDER POLEMONIACE^. 

Polemonium, Tourn. 

reptans, L. (Jacob's Ladder.) 
Phlox, L. 

maculata, L.(Wild Sweet- William) 

subulata, L. (Mountain Pink.) 

pilosa, L. 

ORDER CONVOLVULACEJB. 

Calystegia, R. B.r. 

sepium, R. Br. 

spithamaea, Pursh. 
Ipom(ea, L. 

pandurata, Meyer. (Wild Sweet 
Potato.) 

purpurea, (Morning Glory.) 
Convolvulus, L. 

arvensis, L. 
CuscuTA, Tourn. 

Gronovii, Willd. (Love-vine.) 

ORDER SOLANAC^. 

SOLANUM, L. 

dulcamara. L. (Bitter Sweet.) 
nigrum, L. (Nightshade.) 
Carolinense, L. 
Physalis, L. 

, ' ' T ^ (Ground Cherry.) 
pabescens, L. j ^ ■' ' 

Datura, L. 

stramonium, L. (Jimson weed.) 

ORDER GENTIANACE^. 

Sabbatia, Adans. 

angularis, Pursh. (Centuary.) 
Gentiana, L. 

crinita, Frcel. (Fringed Gentian.) 

saponaria, L. (Soap Gentian.) 

Andrewsii, Griseb. 
Bartonia, Muhl. 

tenella, Muhl. 
Obolaria, L. 

virginica, L. (Waxwork.) 

ORDER APOCYNACE^. 

Apocynum, Tourn. 

androssemifolium, L. 
cannabinum, L, (Indian Hemp ) 

ORDER ASCLEPIADACE^. 

Asclepias, L. 

Cornuti, Decaisne. 
phytolaccoides, Pursh. 
variegata, L. 
quadrifolia, Jacq. 
rubra, L. 
incarnata, L. 
purpurascens, L. 
obtusifolia, Michx. 
tuberosa, L. 



426 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



verticilata, L. Grows on the Ser- 
pentine. 
GoNOLOBus, Michx. 

hirsutus, Michx. Near the Gulf. 

ORDER OLEACBiE. 

LtGUSTRUM, Tourn. 

vulgare^ L. (Privet.) 

Fraxinus, Tourn. 

Americana, L. (White Ash.) 
pubescens, Lam. (Red Ash.) 
sambucifolia, Lam. (Water Ash.) 

ORDER ARISTOLOCHIACE^. 

AsARUM, Tourn. 

canadense, L. (Wild Ginger.) 
Aristolochia, Tourn. 

Serpentaria, L. 

ORDER PHYTOLACCACE^. 
Phytolacca. Tourn. 

decandra. L. (Com. Poke.) 

ORDER CHENOPODIACOEiE. 
Chenopodium, L. 

album, L. (Lamb's Quarters.) 
ambrosioides, L. (Wormseed.) 

ORDER AMARANTH A CE^. 
Amaranthus, Tourn. 
albus, L. 
hybridus, L. 
spinosus, L. 

ACNIDA, L. 

cannabina, L. Along the tide- 
water, abundant. 

ORDER POLYGONACEJE. 
Polygonum, L. 

orientale, L. (Prince's Feather.) 

Pennsylvanicum. 

Persicaria. L. (Lady's Thumb.) 

hydropiper, L. 

hydropiperoides, Michx. 

aviculare. L. (Door-weed Grass.) 

tenue, Michx. 

Virginianum, L. 

arifolium, L. 

sagittatum. L. 

convolvulus, L. (Wild Buckwheat.) 

dumetorum, L. (Climbing Buck- 
wheat.) 
RUMEX, L. 

crispus, L. (Curled Dock.) 

obiusifolius, L. (Bitter Dock ) 

maritimus,L. (Golden Dock.) Tide- 
water. 

aceiosella, L. (Sheep Sorrel.) 



ORDER LAURACE^. 

Sassafras, Nees. 

officinale, Nees. (Sassafras.) 
Benzoin, Nees. 

odoriferum, Nees. (Spice Wood.) 

ORDER THYMELEACE^. 

DiRCA, L. 

palustris, L. (Leather Wood.) For- 
merly grew in Delaware County, 
but is now probably extinct. 

ORDER SANTALACE^. 

COMANDRA, Nutt. 

umbellata, Nutt. 

ORDER LORANTHACE^. 

Phoradbndron, Nutt. 

flavescens, Nutt. (Mistletoe.) Rare. 

ORDER SAURURAOE^. 
Saururus, L. 

cernuus, L. (Lizard's Tail) 

ORDER CERATOPHYLLACEiE. 
Ceratophyllum, L. 
demersum, L. 

ORDER CALLITRICHACEtE. 
Callitriche, L. 
verna, L. 

ORDER PODOSTEMACE^. 

PODOSTEMUM, Michx. 

ceratophyllum, Michx. 

ORDER EUPHORBIACE^. 

Euphorbia, L. 

corollata, L. 

maculata, L. 

hypericifolia, L. 
Acalypha, L. 

virginica, L. 

gracilens, Gray. 

ORDER URTICACE^. 

Ulmus, L. 

fulva, Michx. (Slippery Elm.) 
Americana, L. (White Elm.) 

Cbltis, Tourn. 

occidentalis, L. Rather sparsely 
distributed over the County. 

Maclura, Nutt. 

aurantiaca, Nutt. Planted for 
hedges, but maintains itself well. 

MoRcs, Tourn. 

rubra, L. (Red Mulberry.) 
alba, L. (White Mulberry.) 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



427 



TJrtica, Tourn. 

dioica, L. (Com. Nettle.) 
Laportba, Gaudich. 

Canadensis, Gaudich. 
PiLEA, Lindl. 

pumila, (Richweed.) 
BcEHMBRiA, Jacq. 

cylindrica, Willd. 

HUMULUS, L. 

Lupulus, L. (Common Hop.) Rather 
abundant along our streams. 

ORDER PLATANACE^. 

Platantjs, L. 

occidentalis, L. (Buttonwood.) 

ORDER JUGLANDACE^. 

JaGLANS, L. 

cinerea, L. (White Walnut.) 
nigra, L. (Black Walnut.) 
Carya, Nutt. 

alba, Nutt. (Shellbark.) 
sulcata, Nutt. (Thick Shellbark.) 
There is a tree in Radnor, be- 
lieved by the late John Evans to 
be of this species, 
tomentosa, Nutt. (Hickory.) 
microcarpa, Nutt. (Hickory.) 
glabra, Torr. (Pig-nut.) 
amara, Nutt. (Bitter-nut.) 

ORDER CUPULIFER^. 

QUERCUS, L. 

obtusiloba, Michx. (Post-oak.) 

alba, L. (White-oak.) 

Prinus, L. (Swamp Chestnut-oak.) 

montana, Willd. (Rock Chestnut- 
oak.) 

prinoides, Willd. (Chinquapin- 
oak.) 

Phellos, L. (Willow-oak.) Not 
uncommon on the clay lands 
towards the Delaware. 

falcata, Michx. (The true Spanish- 
oak) on clay lands, not abund- 
ant. 

triloba, Willd. (a variety of Q. fal- 
cata.) 

nigra, L. (Black-Jack.) Only 
found here on the Serpentine 
barrens. 

tinctoria, Bartram. (Black Oak.) 

rubra, L. (Red Oak.) 

palustris, Du Roi. (Pin Oak.) 

illicifolia, Wang. (Scrub Oak.) 

coccinea, Wang. (Scarlet Oak.) 



Castanba, Tourq. 

vesca, L. (The Chestnut.) 
Fagus, Tourn. 

ferruginea. Ait. (Beech.) 
CoRYLUs, Tourn. 

Americana, Walt. (Hazelnut.) 
Carpinus, L. 

Americana, Michx. (Water Beech.) 
Ostrya, Mich. 

Virginica, Willd. (Iron wood.) 
Found growing in Radnor by 
the late John Evans. 

ORDER MYRICACE^. 

CoMPTONiA, Solander. 

asplenifolia, Ait. (Sweet-Fern.) 

ORDER BETULACE^. 

Betula, Tourn. 

nigra, L. (Black Birch.) Rare. 
Alnus, Tourn. 

serrulata, Ait. (Alder-bush.) 

ORDER SALICACE^. 

Salix, Tourn. (Willow.) 

tristis. Ait. 

humilis, Marshall. 

petiolaris, Smith. 

viminalis, L. (Basket Willow.) 

alba, L. 

fraffilis, L. 

nigra, Marshall. 

sericea, Marshall. 

Babylonica, Tourn. (Weeping 
Willow.) 
PopuLus, Tourn. 

tremuloides, Michx. (Quivering 
Aspen.) 

grandidentata. 

Chceca, Ait. (Athenian Poplar.) 

dilatata, Ait. (Lombardy Poplar.) 

alba, I/. (Silver Poplar.) 

ORDER CONIFERS. 

PiNUS. 

inops. Ait. 

rigida, Mill. (Yellow pine.) 

Strobus, L. (White pine.) 
Abies, Tourn. 

Canadensis, Michx. (Banks of 
strep-ms. 
JUNIPERUS, L. 

communis, L. (Juniper.) 
Virginiana, L. (Red Cedar.) 



428 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



CLASS II.— MONOCOTYLEDONOUS, OR ENDOGENOUS PLANTS. 



ORDER ARACEiE. 

Aris^ma, Martins. 

triphyllum, Torr. (Indian Turnip ) 

Dracontium, Schott. 
Symplocarpus, Salisb. 

fcetidus, Salisb. (Swamp Cabbage.) 
Orontium, L. 

aquaticum, L. (Golden-club.) 
AcoRus, L. 

Calamus, L. 

ORDER TYPHACE^. 
Ttpha, Tourn. 

latifolia, L. (Cat-tail.) 
Sparganium, Tourn. 

simplex, Hudson. 

ramosum, Hudson. 

ORDER LEMNACE^. 
Lemna, L. 

minor, L. (Ducks-meat.) 
polyrrhiza, Torr. Meadow ditches, 
Tinicura. 

ORDER NAIDACEiE. 
Naias, L. 

flexilis, Rostk. 

POTAMOGBTON, Toum. 

natans, L. 
lucens, L. 
perfoliatus, L. 
pauciflorus, Pursh. 

ORDER ALISMACE^. 

AlilSMA, L. 

Plantago, L. 
Sagittaria, L. 

variabilis, Engelm. 

ORDER HYDROCHARDIACE^. 

Anacharis, Rich. 

Canadensis, Planchon. 
Vallisneria, Micheli. 

spiralis, L. (Tape-grass.) 

ORDER ORCHIDACEiB. 
Orchis, L. 

spectabilis, L. (The Orchis.) 
Gymnadekia, R. Brown. 

tridentata, Lindl. 

flava, Lindl. Very rare. 
Platanthera, Rich. 

flava, Gray. 

ciliaris, Lindl. 

psycoides. Gray. 

lacera, Gray. 

fimbriata, Lindl. Very rare. 



GooDYERA, R. Brown. 

pubescens, R. Brown. 
Spiranthes, Rich. 

gracilis, Bigel. 

cernua. Rich. 
PoGONiA, R. Brown. 

ophioglossoides, Nutt. Tinicum I. 

pendula, Lind. 

verticillata, Nutt. Tinicum I. 
Calopogon, R. Brown. 

pulchellus, R. Brown. Tinicum. 
Mycrostylis, Nutt. 

ophioglossoides, Nutt. 
Liparis, Rich. 

liliifolia. Rich. 
CoKALLORHizA, Haller. 

multiflora, Nutt. 

innata, R. Brown. 

odontorhiza, Nutt. 
Aplectrum, Nutt. 

hyemale, Nutt. (Putty-root.) Rare. 
Cypripedium, L. 

pubescens, Willd. (Yellow Lady's 
Slipper.) 

acaule, Ait. (Purple Lady's Slip- 
per.) Tinicum I. 

ORDER AMARYILLADACEJE. 

Hypoxys, L. 

erecta, L. (Star-grass.) 

ORDER HiEMODORACEiE. 
Aletris, L. 

farinosa, L. 

ORDER IRlDACEiE. 

Iris, L. 

versicolor, L. (Blue flag.) 
Virginica, L. (Slender blue flag.) 

Sisyrinchium, L. 
Bermudiana, L. 

ORDER DIOSCOREACB^. 

DiOSCOREA, L. 

villosa, L. 

ORDER SMILACEiE. 
Smilax, Tourn. 

rotundifolia, L. (Greenbriar.) 

glauca, Walt. 

herbacea, L. (Carrion-flower.) 
Trillium, L. 

cernuum, L. 
Medeola, Gronov. 

Virginica, L. 

ORDER LILIACE^. 
Asparagus, L. 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



429 



officinialis, L. (Asparagus.) Na- 
turalized in some places. 
PoLYGONATUM, Dietrich. 

giganteum, Dieth. (Solomon's seal.) 

biflorum, L. (Small Solomon's seal.) 
Smilaoin-a, Desf. 

recemosa, Desf. 

bifolia, Ker. 
Hemerocallis, L. 

fulva, L. (Copper lily.) 
Ornithogalum, Tourn. 

umbellatum, L. (Star of Bethle- 
hem.) 
Allium, L. 

tricoccum, Ait. 

Canadense, Kalm. 

vineale, L. (Field Garlic.) 
MuscARi, B. M. 

botryoides. (Blue-bottle.) Natu- 
ralized in many meadows in the 
eastern part of the County. 

LiLIUM, L. 

Philadelphicum, L. 
superbum, L. 
Canadense, L. 
Erythronium, L. 

Americanum, Smith. 

IXIA. 

Chinensis. Naturalized in Haver- 
ford and Marple. 

ORDER MELANTHACEiE. 

Uv0laria, L. 

perfoliata, L. (Bell-wort.) 

sessilifolia, L. 
Mblanthium, Gronov. 

virginicum, L. 
Veratrum, Tourn. 

viride. Ait. (White Hellebore.) 

CHAM.ffiLIRIUM, Willd. 

luteum, Gray. 

ORDER JUNCACEiE. 

JUNCUS, L. 

effusus, L. (Common Rush.) 
scirpoides. Lam. 
paradoxus, E. Meyer, 
acuminatus, Michx. 
tenuis, Willd. 
bufonius, L. 
marginatus, Rostk. 
LUZULA, DC. 

campestris, DO. 

ORDER PONTEDERIACE^. 

PONTEDERIA, L. 

cordata, L. Very abundant in the 
marsh ditches. 
Heteranthera, Ruiz & Pavon, 



reniformis, R. & P. In stagnant 
pools and clayey ground — rare. 
ScHOLLERA, Schrcb. 
graminea, Willd. 

ORDER COMMELYNACEiE. 

COMMELYNA, Dillcn. 

Virginica, L. Below Darby. 
Tradescantia, L. 
Virginica, L. 

ORDER XYRIDACE^. 

Xyris, L. 

Caroliniana, Walt. 

ORDER CYPERACEiE. 

Cyperus, L. 

diandrus, Torr, 

strigosus. 

erythrorhizos, Muhl. 

filiculmus, Vahl. 

ovularis, Torr. 
DuLCHiUM, Rich. 

spathaceum, Pers. 
Eleocharis, R. Brown. 

obtusa, Schultes. 

tenuis, Schultes. 

acicularis, R. Brown. 

SCIRPUS, L. 

pungens, Vahl. 
Torreyi, Olney. 
lacustris, L. 
debilis, Pursh. 
polyphyllus, Vahl. 
Eriophorum, Michx. 
fluviatilis. 
Eriophorum, L. 

Virginicum, L. 
FiMBRiSTYLis, Vahl. 

autumnalis, Roem & Schult. 
laxa, Vahl. 
Rhynchospora, Vahl. 

glomerata, Vahl. 

alba, Vahl. 
Carex, L. 

stipata, Muhl. 

cephalophora, Muhl. 

rosea, Schk. 

scoparia, Schk. 

crinita. Lam. 

conoidea, Schk. 

grisea, Wahl. 

virescens, Muhl. 

triceps, Michx. 

laxiflora. Lam. 

oligocarpa, Schk. 

Pennsylvanica, Lam. 

varia, Muhl. 

pubesceus, Muhl. 

miliacea, Muhl. 



430 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



debilis, Michx. 
flava, L. 
striata, Michx. 
tentaculata, Muhl. 
intumescens, Rudge. 
squarrosa, L. 
stricta, Lam. 
lagopodioides, Schk. 
aquatilis, Wahl. 
vestita, Willd. 
gracillima, Schw. 
lupulina, Muhl. 
NovcR-Anglim, Schw. 
straminea, Schk. 
subulata, Michx. 
festucacea, Schk. 
stellulata, Good, 
vulpiaoidea, Michx. 

ORDER GRAMINEiE. 

Leersia, Solander. 

oryzoides, Swartz. 

Virginica, Willd. , 
ZiZANiA, Gronov. 

aquatica, L. 
Phleum, L. 

pratense, L. (Timothy.) 
ViPLA, Adans. 

vaginaBiiora, Torr. 
Agrostis, L. 

scabra, Willd. 

perennans, Tuckerman. 

vulgaris, With. (Herd-Grass.) 

OiNNA, L. 

arundinacea, L. 
MuhlenberCtIa, Schreb. 

Mexicana, Trin. 

diffusa, Schreber. 

sobolifera, A. Gray. 

Willdenovii, Trin. 

sylvatica, Torr. & Gr. 
Brachyelyteum, Beauv. 

aristatum, Beauv. 
Calamagrostis, Adans. 

Canadensis, Beauv. 

coarctata? Torr. 
Aristida, L. 

dichotoma, Michx. (Poverty-Grass) 

gracilis, Ell. 
Eleusine, Gaertn. 

Indica, Gaertn. 
TRIC0SP1S, Beauv. 

seslerioides, Torr. (Red Top.) 

purpurea. 
Daotylis, L. 

glovierata, L. (Orchard-Grass.) 
Glyceria, R. Brown. 

nervata, Trin. 

fluitans, R. Brown. 



Eatonia, Raf. 

obtusata. Gray. 

Ponnsylvanica, Gray. 
Poa, L. 

annua, L. 

brevifolia, Muhl. 

irivialis, L. 

pratensis, L. (Green Grass.) 

compressa, L. (Blue Grass.) 
Eragrostis, Beauv. 

megastachya, Link. 

spectabilis. Gray. 1st Ed. 

capilliaris, Nees. 
Festuca, L. 

elatior, L. 

nutans, Willd. 
Bromus, L. 

secalinus, L. (Cheat.) 

ciliatus, L. 
Uniola, L. 

gracilis, Michx. (On Tinicum.) 
Phragmites, Trin. 

communis, Trin. (Reed.) 

LOLIUM, L. 

perenne, L. 
Triticum, L. ^ 

repens, L. 
Elymus, L. 

Virginicus, L. 

Canadensis, L. 

striatus, Willd. 

Gymnostichum, Schreb. 

Hystrix, Schreb. 
Aira, L. 

caespitosa, L. 
Danthonia, DC. 

spicata, Beauv. (Wild Oat.) 
Trisetum, Persoon. 
palustre, Torr. 
HoLcus, L. 

lanatus, L. (Velvet-Grass.) 
Anthoxanthum, L. 

odoratum, L. (Sweet-scented Ver- 
nal-Grass.) 
Phalaris, L. 

arundinacea, L. 
Paspalum, L. 

setaceura, Michx. 
Iseve, Michx. 
Panicum, L. 

filiforme, L. 
glabrum, Gaudin. 
sanguinale, L. 
anceps, Michx. 
agrostoides, Spreng. 
proliferum. Lam. 
capillare, L. 
virgatum, L. 
latifolium, L. 
clandestinum, L. 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



431 



microcarpon, Muhl. 
dichotomum, L. 

viscidum, Ell. On Tinicum, abun- 
dant. 
crus-galli, L. 
depauperatum, Muhl. 
Sbtaria. 

glauca, Beauv. (Fox-tail Grass.) 
viridis, Beauv. 



Cenchrus, L. 

tribuloides, L. (Bur-Grass.) On 
the sandy grounds of Tinicum. 
Andropogon, L. 

furcatus, Muhl. 

Virginicus, L. 

macrourus, Michx. 
Sorghum, Pers. 

nutans, Gray. (Wood-Grass.) 



SERIES II. 
CRYPTOGAMOUS OR FLOWERLESS PLANTS. 

CLASS III.— ACROGENS. 



ORDER EQUISETACBiE. 
Equisetum. 

arvense, L. 

sylvaticum, L. 

hyemale, L. (Scouring Rush.) 

ORDER FILICES. (Ferns.) 

POLYPODIUM, L. 

vulgare, L. 

hexagonopterum, Michx. 
Pteris, L. 

aquilina, L. 
Adiantum, L. 

pedatum, L. (Maiden's Hair.) 
Cheilanthes, Swartz. 

vestita, Willd. 
WooDWARDiA, Smith. 

angustifolia, Smith. On Tinicum. 
Camptosorus, Link. 

rhizophyllus, Link. (Walking- 
leaf. 

ASPLENIDM, L. 

Trichomanes, L. (Castle Rock.) 

ebeneum, Aiton. 

thelypteroides, Michx. 

Filix-foemina, R. Br. 
DiCKSONiA, L'Her. 

punctilobula, Hook. 
WooDSiA, R. Brown. 

obtusa, Tor. 
AspiDiuM, Swartz. 

Thelypteris, Swartz. 

Noveboracense, Willd. 

spinulosum, Swartz. 

cristatum, Swartz. 

marginale, Swartz. 

acrostichoides, Swartz. 
Onoclea, L. 

sensibilis, L. (Sensitive Fern.) 

OSMUNDA, L. 

regalis, L. (Spectabilis.) 
Claytoniana, L. 
cinamomea, L. 



BoTRYCHiuM, Swartz. 

lunarioides, Swartz. 

virginicum, Swartz. 
Ophioglossum, L. 

vulgatum, L. (Adder's tongue.) 

ORDER LYCOPODIACE^. 

Lycopodium, L. 

lucidulum, Michx. 

inundatum, L. On Tinicum. 

annotinum ? L. 

dendroideum, Michx. (Ground- 
Pine.) 

complanatum, L. 

clavatum, L. 
Selaginella, Beauv. 

apus, Spring. 

ORDER HYDROPTERIDES. 

ISOETES, L. 

riparia, Engelm. Gravelly banks 
of the Delaware. 

lacustris. Darby township. Dr. 
Thos. P. James, of Philadelphia, 
says the L Engelmanni also 
grows in Delaware County. 

ORDER MUSCL— Mosses. 

Sphagnum, Dill. 

acutifolium, Ehrh. 

cuspidatum, Ehrh. 
Phasoum, L. 

crassinervium, Schwsegr. 

cohaerens, Hedw. 

muticum, Schreb. 

cuspidatum, Schreb. 

alternifolium, Brid. 

Sullivantii, Schimp. 
Bruchia, Schwaegr. 

flexuosa, Schwaegr. 
Weisia, Hedw. 

viridula, Brid. 



432 



BOTANY OF DELAWAKE COUNTY. 



DiCBANUM, Hedw. 

varium, Hedw. 

heteromallum, Hedw. 

flagellare, Hedw. 

interruptum, Br. & Sch. 

scoparium, L. 

Schraderi, Web. & Mohr. 

undulatum, Turner. 
Ceratodon, Brid. 

purpureas, Brid. 
Lkucobryum, Hampe. 

glaucum, Hampe. 

minus, Hampe. 
FissiDENs, Hedw. 

minutulus, Sulliv. 

subbasilaris, Hedw. 

taxifolius, Hedw. 
CoNOMiTRiUM, Montag. 

Julianum, Mont. 
Trichostomum, Br. & Sch. 

tortile, Schrad. 

Taginans, Sulliv. 

pallidum, Hedw. 
Barbula, Hedw. 

unguiculata, Hedw. 

csespitosa, Schwaegr. 
Tetraphis, Hedw. 

pellucida, Hedw. 
Zygodon, Hook & Taylr. 

Lapponicus, Br. & Sch. 
Dbummondia, Hook. 

clavellata. Hook. 
Orthotrichum, Hedw. 

strangulatum, Beauv. 

Canadense, Br. & Sch. 

Ludwigii, Schwaegr. 

Hutchinsiae, Smith. 

crispum, Hedw. 

crispulum, Hornsch. 
Ptychomitridm, Br. & Sch. 

incurvum, Schwaegr. 
ScHiSTiDiUM, Br. & Sch. 

apocarpum, Br. & Sch. 

confertum, Br. & Sch. 
Grimmia, Ehi-h. 

Pennsylvanica, Schwaegr. 
Hedwigia, Ehrh. 

ciliata, Ehrh. 
BuxBAUMiA, Haller. 

aphj-lla, Haller. 
DiPHYsciUM, Weber & Mohr. 

foliosum, W. & M. 
Atrichum, Beauv. 

undulatum, Beauv. 

angustatum, Beauv. 
PoGONATUM, Beauv. 

brevicaule, Brid. 
PoLYTRiCHDM, Brid. 

commune, L. 

formosum, Hedw. 



juniperinum, Hedw. 
AuLACOMNioN, Schwaegr. 

heterostichum, Br. & Sch. 

palustre, Schwaegr. 
Bryum, Br. & Sch. 

pyriforme, Hedw. 

Lescurianum, Sulliv. » 

nutans, Schreb. 

roseum, Schreb. 

Wahlenbergii, Schwaegr. 

argenteum, Linn. 

cernuum, Hedw. 

bimum, Schreb. 

capillare, Hedw. 

caespiticium, Linn. 
Mnium, Br. & Sch. 

affine. Bland. 

hornum, Hedw. 

punctatum, Hedw. 

cuspidatum, Hedw. 
Bartramia, Hedw. 

pomiformis, Hedw. 

fontana, Brid. 
FuNARiA, Schreb. 

hygrometrica, Hedw. 
Physcomitrium, Brid. 

pyriforme, Br. & Sch. 
Aphanorhegma, Sulliv. 

serrata, Sulliv. 
FONTINAIIS, Dill. 

gigantea, Sulliv. 

Dalicarlica, Bryol. Europ. 
DiCHELYMA, Myrin. 

capillaceum, Bryol. Europ. 
Leucodon, Schwsegr. 

julaceus, Sulliv. 
Leptodon, Mohr. 

trichomitrion, Mohr. 
Anomodon, Hooker & Tayl. 

attenuatus. Hub. 

tristis, Cesati. 
Leskea, Hedw. Bryol. Europ. 

polycarpa, Hedw. 

obscura, Hedw. 

rostrata, Hedw. 

denticulata, Sulliv. 
Thelia, Sulliv. 

hirtella, Sulliv. 

asprella, Sulliv. 
Anacamptodon, Brid. 

splachnoides, Brid. 
Pylais^a, Bryol. Europ. 

intricata, Bryol. Europ. 
HoMALOTHECiDM, Bryol. Europ. 

subcapillatum, Bryol. Europ. 
Platyqyeium, Bryol. Europ. 

repens, Bryol. Europ. 
Cylindrothecidm, Bryol. Europ. 

cladorrhizans, Bryol. Europ. 

seductrix, Bryol. Europ. 



BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



433 



Neckera, Hedw. 

pennata, Hedw. 
Climacium, Web. & Mohr. 

Americanunij Brid. 
HrPNUM, Dill. 

tamariscinum, Hedw. 

minutulum, Hedw. 

gracile, Br. & Sch. 

paludosum, SuUiv. 

triquetrum, Linn. 

brevirostre, Ehrh. 

Alleghaniense, C. MUll. 

hians, Hedw. 

Sullivantii, Spruce. 

piliferum, Schreb. 

strigosum, Hoffm. 

Boscii, Schwaegr. 

serrulatum, Hedw. 

deplanatum, W. P. S. 

rusciforme, Weis. 

recurvans, SchwEegr. 

Schreberi, Willd. 

cordifolium, Hedw. 

uncinatum, Hedw. 

Crista- Castrensis, L. 

moluscum, Hedw. 

imponens, Hedw. 

reptile, Michx. 

curvifolium, Hedw. 

Haldamanum, Grev. 

salebrosum, Hoffm. 

Isetum, Brid. 

acuminatum, Beauv. 

rutabulum, L. 

plumosum, L. 

populeum, Hedw. 

rivulare, Bryol. Europ. 

Novae -Anglise, Sulliv. & Lesq. 

stellatum, Schreb. 

polymorphum, Bryol. Europ. 

hispidulum, Brid. 

adnatum, Hedw. 

serpens, Hedw. 

radicale, Brid. 

orthocladon, Beauv. 

riparium, Hedw. 

denticulatum, L. 

Muhlenbeckii, Brjol. Europ. 

sylvaticum, L. 

ORDER HEPATIOiE. 
RicciA, Mich. 

glauca, L. 

natans, L. 

fluitans, L. 
Anthoceros, Mich. 

punctatus, L. 

Isevis, L. 

NOTOTHYLAS, Sulliv. 

valvata, Sulliv. 
9« 



melanosperma, Sulliv. 
Marchantia, L. 

polymorpha, L. 
Fegatella, Raddi. 

conica, Corda. 
Reboulia, Raddi. 

hemisphserica, Raddi. 
FiMBRARiA, Nees. 

tenella, Nees. 
Metzgeria, Raddi. 

furcata, Nees. 
Aneura, Dumortier. 

palmata, Nees. 
Steetzia, Lehm. 

Lyellii, Nees. 
Pellia, Raddi. 

epiphylla, Nees. 
Geocaltx, Nees. 

graveolens, Nees. 
Chiloscyphus, Corda. 

polyanthos, Corda. 

ascendens. Hook & Wils. 
LoPHocoLEA, Nees. 

heterophjlla, Nees. 
Sphagncecetis, Nees. 

communis, Nees. 
Jungermannia, L. 

setacea, Weber. 

connivens, Dicks. 

curvifolia, Dicks. 

bicuspidata, L. 

divaricata, Eng. Bot. 

Schraderi, Mart. 

obtusifolia, Hook. 
Scapania, Lindenberg. 

memorosa, Nees. 
Plagiochila, Nees & Montagne. 

spinnlosa, Nees & Montagne. 

asplenioides, Nees & Montagne. 

porelloides. Linden. 
FruI/Lania, Raddi. 

Grayana, Montagne. 

Virginica, Lehm. 

Eboracensis, Lehm. 

seolotis, Nees. 
Lejeunia, Libert. 

clypeata, Sweinitz. 
Madotheca, Dum. 

platyphylla, Dum. 

porella, Nees. 
Radula, Nees. 

complanata, Dum. 
Ptilidium, Nees. 

ciliare, Nees. 
Trichocolea, Nees. 

Tomentella, Nees. 
Mastigobryum, Nees. 

trilobatum, Nees. 
Caltpogeia, Raddi. 

Trichomanis, Corda. 



QUADRUPEDS OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

BY JOHN CASSIN. 



1. Vespertilio novehoracensis. Gray Bat. Frequent. 

2. " fuscus. Brown Bat. Common. 

3. " pulverulentus. Hoary Bat. Occasionally occurs. 

4. " cinereus. Large Gray Bat. Rare. 

5. " Caroli. Not common. 

6. Sorex Forsteri. Little Shrew. Probably occurs, but has not been observed. 

7. Blarina Talpoides. Larger Shrew. Frequent, but rarely seen, nocturnal. 

8. " cinerea. Gray Shrew. Occasionally occurs. 

9. Scalops aquaticus. Common Mole. Abundant. 

10. Condylura cristata. Star-nosed Mole Occasionally occurs. 

11. Vxilpes fulvus. Red Fox. More rare than formerly. 

12. Putorius novehoracensis. Weasel. Not common. 

13. " vison. Mink. Not common. 

14. Blephitis mephitica. Skunk. Polecat. Frequent. 

15. Lutra canadensis. American Otter. Very rare, but has once occurred within 

a few years, in Crum Creek. 

16. Procyon lotor. Raccoon. Occasionally occurs. 

17. Didelphys virginiana. Opossum. Frequent. 

18. Sciurus cinereus. Cat Squirrel. Rare, more so than formerly. 

19. , " carolinensis. Gray Squirrel. Frequent. 

20. " hudsonius. Red Squirrel. Chickaree. Not common. 

21. Tamias striatus. Ground Squirrel. Abundant. 

22. Pier amy s volucella. Flying Squirrel. Frequent. 

23. Arctomys monax. Ground Hog. Marmot. Frequent. 

24. Fiber zibethicus. Musk Rat. Frequent. 

25. Mus decumanus. Common Rat. Abundant. 

26. " musculus. Mouse. Abundant. 

27. Arvicola pennsylvanicus. Common Field Mouse. Common. 

28. " riparius. Marsh Field Mouse. Frequent. 

29. Hesperomys leucopus White-footed Mouse. Occasionally occurs. 

30. Jaculus hudsonius. Jumping Mouse. Rare. 

31. Lepus sylvaticus. Rabbit. Frequent. 

32. Delphinus phocaena. Porpoise. Occasionally ascends the Delaware River to 

within the limits of this County. 

33. Balaena mysticeius. Whale. Has been twice known to occur within and 

above the limits of this County, in the Delaware River. 



BIRDS OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

BY JOHN CASSIN. 



1. Cathartes aura. The Turkey Buzzard. Occasionally seen, but not common. 

2. Falco anatum. Duck Hawk. Rare. 

3. " columbarius. Pigeon Hawk. Frequent in winter. 

4. " sparverius. Sparrow Hawk. Not rare, especially in winter. 

5. Astur atricapillus. Goshawk. A rare visitor in winter, from the north. 

6. Accipiter Cooperi. Cooper's Hawk. Frequent, and probably resident. 

7. " fuscus. Sharp-shinned Hawk. Frequent and resident. 

8. Buteo borealis. Red-tailed Hawk. Frequent and resident. 

9. " lineatus. Red-shouldered Hawk. Frequent and resident. 

10. " pennsylvanic-us. Broad-winged Hawk. Occasional in winter. 

11. Archibuteo lagopus. Rough-legged Hawk. Common in winter along the 

Delaware. 

12. Archibuteo sanctij oh annis. Black Hawk. Frequent in winter. 

13. Circus hudsonius. Marsh Hawk. Common in winter, especially on the 

Delaware River. 

14. Aquila canadensis. Golden Eagle. Rare, and only in winter. 

15. Haliaetuslencocephalus. Bald Eagle. White-headed Eagle. Rare, and only 

in winter. 

16. Pandion carolinensis. Fish Hawk. Osprey. Occasionally seen. 

17. Strix pratincola. Barn Owl. White Owl. Not common. 

18. Bubo virginianus. Great Horned Owl. Cat Owl. Not common, and more 

rare than formerly. 

19. Scops asio. Screech Owl. Frequent and resident. 

20. Oius Wilsonianus. Long-eared Owl. Occasionally seen, especially in 

winter. 

21. Brachyotus Cassinii. Short-eared Owl. Frequent in winter along the 

creeks and the Delaware River. 

22. Syrnium nebulosum. Barred Owl. Gray Owl. Frequent in winter. 

23. Nyctale acadica. Little Owl. Occasionally in winter. 

24. Nyctea nivea. Snow Owl. Occasionally in winter 

25. Coccyzus americanus. Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Frequent. 

26. " erythropthalmus. Black-billed Cuckoo. Frequent. 
21. Picus villosus. Hai^iy Woodpecker. Not common. 

28. " pubescens. Downy Woodpecker. Sap-sucker. Common. 
-29. " borealis. Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Rare. 

30. Picus varius. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. Frequent. 

31. " pileatus. Great Black Wookpecker. Log-cock. Very rare, but for- 
merly of frequent occurrence in this County. 

32. Picus carolinus. Red-bellied Woodpecker. Frequent. 

33. " erythrocephalus. Red-headed Woodpecker. Frequent, but less common 
than formerly. 

34. Colaptes auratus. Flicker. Golden-winged Woodpecker. Frequent. 

35. Trochilus colubris. Humming-bird. Frequent, and resident in summer. 

36. Chaetura pelasgia. Chimney-bird. Abundant. 

37. Eirundo rufa. Barn Swallow. Abundant. 

38. " lunifrons. Cliff Swallow. Occasionally seen. 

39. " bicolor. White-bellied Swallow. Abundant. 

40. Cotyle riparia. Bank Swallow. Occasionally seen, but not common. 

41. " serripennis. Rough-winged Swallow. Rare. 

42. Progne purpurea. Purple Martin. Frequent. 

43. Antrostomus vociferus. Whip-poor-will. Frequent. 



436 BIRDS OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

44. Chordeiles virginianus. Night Hawk. Common. 

45. Ceryle alcyon. Kingfisher. Frequent. 

46. Tyrannus carolincnsis. King-bird. Common. 

47. Myiarchus crinitus. Great-crested Flycatcher. Frequent. 

48. Sayornis fuscus, Pewee. Common, and a great favorite. 

49. Contopus borealis. Olive Flycatcher. Rare. 

50. " virens. Wood Pewee. Common. 

51. Tyrannula Traillii. Traill's Flycatcher. Occasionally seen. 

52. " acadica. Green Flycatcher. Frequent. 

53. " flaviventris Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Frequent. 

54. " minima. Least Flycatcher. Frequent. 

55. Merula migratoria. Robin. Abundant. 

56. " mustelina. Wood Thrush. Abundant. 

57. " fuscescens. Wilson's Thrush. Frequent. 

58. " Pallasii. Hermit Thrush. Frequent. 

59. " Swainsonii. Olive-backed Thrush. Not common. 

60. " Alicice. Probably an occasional visitor. 

61. Sialia Wilsonii. Blue Bird. Abundant. 

62. Regulus salrapa. Golden-crested Wren. Common in winter. 

63. " calendula. Ruby-crowned Wren. Frequent in winter. 

64. Anthus ludoviciajius. Tit Lark. Pipit. Frequent in winter. 

65. Mniotilta varia. Black and White Creeper. Common. 

66. Parula americana. Blue Yellow-backed Warbler. Frequent, and resident 

in summer. 

67. Trichas marilandica. Maryland Yellow Throat. Common. 

68. " agilis. Connecticut Warbler. Occasionally occurs. 

69. " Philadelphia. Mourning Warbler. Rare. 

70. Sylvicola virens. Black-throated Green Warbler. Frequently abundant 

during the spring and autumnal migrations. 

71. Sylvicola canadensis. Black-throated Blue Warbler. Frequently abundant 

during the spring and autumnal migrations, 

72. Sylvicola coronata. Yellow-crowned Warbler. Yellow Rump. Abundant 

in spring and autumn. 

73. Sylvicola Blackburnice. Blackburnian Warbler. Frequently common in 

in spring and autumn. 

74. Sylvicola casianea. Bay-breasted Warbler. Occasionally in spring and fall. 

75. " pinus. Pine-creeping Warbler. Frequent in spring and fall. 

76. " pennsylvanica. Chestnut-sided Warbler. Frequent in spring and 
fall, sometimes abundant. 

77. Sylvicola caerulea. Blue Warbler. Rare, but occasionally seen. 

78. " striata. Black-poll Warbler. Common in spring and fall. 

79. " aestiva. Summer Yellow-bird. Common, and resident in summer. 

80. " maculosa. Black and Yellow Warbler. Frequent in spring and fall. 

81. " tigrina. Cape May Warbler. Rare. 

82. " palmarum. Red-poll Warbler. Frequent in spring and fall. 

83. " discolor. Prairie Warbler. Not common. 

84. " formosa. Kentucky Warbler. Rare. 

85. Helmintherus vermivorus. Worm-eating Warbler. Occasionally in spring 

and fall. 

86. Helminthophaga solitaria. Blue-winged Yellow Warbler. Frequent, and 

resident in summer. 

87. Helminthophaga chrysoptera. Golden-winged Warbler. Rare. 

88. " ruficapilla. Nashville Warbler. Frequent in spring and fall. 

89. " peregrina. Tennessee Warbler. Rare. 

90. Seiurus aurocapillus . Golden-crowned Thrush. Common. 

91. " noveboracensis. Water Thrush. Frequent. 

92. " ludovicianus. Large-billed Water Thrush. Rare. 

93. Setophaga ruticilla. Redstart. Common. 

94. " mitrata. Hooded Warbler. Occasionally in spring and faU. 

95. " canadensis. Canada Flycatcher. Frequent in spring and fall. 



BIRDS OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 437 

96. Setoghaga piisilla. Black-cap Flycatcher. Frequent in spring and fall. 

97. Ampelis garrulus. Wax Wing. Rare, and only in winter. 

98. " cedrorum. Cedar-bird. Frequent. 

99. Icteria viridis. Yellow-breasted Chat. Frequent. 

100. Vireo oUvaceus. Red-eyed Flycatcher. 

101. " virescens. Bartram's Vireo. Not obtained, but probably occurs. 

102. " philadelphicus. Short-billed Vireo. Occasionally in spring and fall. 

103. " gilvus. Warbling Vireo. Frequent. 

104. " noveboracensis. White-eyed Flycatcher. Abundant. 

105. " solitarius. Solitary Flycatcher. Frequent. 

106. " flavifrons. Yellow-fronted Vireo. 

107. Lanius septentrionalis. Butcher-bird. Rare, and in winter only. 

108. Minius polyglottus. Mocking-bird. Rare, but occasionally seen. 

109. " rufus. Rufous Thrush. Thrasher. Common. 

110. " carolinensis. Cat-bird. Abundant. 

111. Thryothorous ludovicianus. Great Carolina Wren. Occasionally occurs. 

112. " Bewickii. Bewick's Wren. Rare. 

113. " palusirus. Marsh Wren. Common along creeks at tidewater, 
and the Delaware river. 

114. Thryothorous stellar is. Short-billed Marsh Wren. Rare 

115. Troglodytes ce-don. House Wren. Abundant, and deservedly a favorite. 

116. " americanus. Wood Wren. Rare. 

117. " hyemalis. Winter Wren. Frequent. 

118. Certhia americana. Gi'ay Creeper. Frequent in winter. 

119. Sitta carolinensis. Nuthatch. Sapsucker. Frequent. 

120. " canadensis. Red-bellied Nuthatch. Frequent in winter. 

121. " pusilla. Brown-headed Nuthatch. Rare. 

122. Polioptila ccerulea. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Frequent. 

123. Lophophanes bicolor. Tufted Titmouse. Frequent. 

124. Parus atricapillus. Chickadee. Black-cap Titmouse. Frequent. 

125. " carolinensis. Smaller black-cap. Chickadee. Frequent in winter. 

126. Eremophila cornuta. Shore Lark. Sky Lark. Frequent in winter. 

127. Pyranga rubra. Scarlet Tanager. Frequent. 

128. Pyranga cestiva. Summer Red-bird. Not common, but occasionally occurs. 

129. Pinicola Canadensis. Pine Grosbeak. Occurs sparingly nearly every winter. 

130. Carpodacus purpureus. Purple Finch. Frequently abundant in the spring 

migration, and occasionally seen every winter. 

131. Chrysomitris tristis. Yellow-bird. Thistle-bird. Common. 

132. " pinus. Siskin. Pine Goldfinch. 

133. Curvirostra americana. Red Crossbill. In small numbers every winter, 

but occasionally abundant. 

134. Curvirostra leucoptera. White-winged Crossbill. Usually very rare, and 

only in winter, but has appeared in large numbers twice in the last twenty 
years. 

135. jiJgiothus linaria. Linnet. Lesser Red-poll. Sparingly nearly every 

winter, but sometimes abundant. 

136. Plectrophanes nivalis Snow Bunting. Occasionally in winter only. 

137. " lapponicus. Lapland Long- spur. Occasionally in winter only. 

138. Passerculus savanna. Savannah Sparrow. Frequent. 

139. Pooecetus gramineus. Grass Sparrow. Abundant. 

140. Coturniculus passerinus. Yellow- winged Sparrow. Frequent. 

141. Zonotrichia albicollis. White-throated Sparrow. Common in winter. 

142. " leucophrys. White-crowned Sparrow. 

143. Junco hyemalis. Snow-bird. Abundant in winter. 

144. Spizella socialis. Chipping Sparrow. Chippy. One of the most abundant 

of our birds. 

145. Spizella monticola. Tree Sparrow. Canada Sparrow. Frequent in winter. 

146. " pusilla. Field Sparrow. Rush Sparrow. Frequent. 

147. Melospiza melodia. Song Sparrow. Tom-tit. Perhaps the most abundant 

of our resident birds. 



438 BIRDS OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

148. Melospiza Lincolnii. Lincoln's Fiach. Occasionally occurs and sometimes 

in large numbers in autumn. 

149. Melospiza palustris. Swamp Sparrow. Common along streams of water. 

150. PassereUa iliaca. Fox Sparrow. Frequent in winter. 

151. Euspiza amencana. Black-throated Bunting. Frequent. 

152. Guiraca ludoviciana. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. In small numbers every 

spring and autumn. 

153. Guiraca cmruiea. Blue Grosbeak. Rare, but is an occasional visitor. 

154. Spiza cyanea. Indigo-bird. Frequent. 

155. Cardinalis virginianus. Cardinal Grosbeak. Red-bird. Frequent. 

156. Pipilo erythropthalmus. Cheewink. Abundant. 

157. Dolichonyx oryzivorus. Bob-o-link. Reed-bird. Frequent in spring, and 

in large numbers in autum^n. 

158. Moloihrus pecoris. Cow-bird. Common. 

159. Agelaius phcEJiiceus. Red-winged Black-bird. Common. 

160. Slurnella magna. Meadow Lark. Common. 

161. Icterus Baltimore. Hanging-bird. Baltimore Oriole. Frequent, 

162. " spurius. Orchard Oriole. Frequent. 

163. Scolecophagus ferrugineus. Blackbird. Rusty Grakle. In large flocks in 

autumn. 

164. Quiscalus versicolor. Crow Blackbird. Frequent, and in flocks in autumn. 

165. Corvus carnivorus. Raven. Rare, but occasionally seen. 

166. " americanus. Crow. Abundant. 

167. " ossifragus. Fish Crow. Occasionally on the Delaware River. 

168. Cyanura cristata. Blue Jay. Frequent, but not so common as formerly. 

169. Ectopistes migratorius. Wild Pigeon. Occurs sparingly every autumn, and 

sometimes in large numbers. 
110. Ectopistes carolinensis. Turtle Dove. Frequent. 

171. Tetrao umbellus. Pheasant. Ruffed Grouse. Occasionally seen, but much 

more rare than formerly. 

172. Ortyx virginianus. Partridge. Frequent, but less common than formerly. 

173. Grus americanus. Whooping Crane. A very rare visitor, but has occurred 

in a few instances. 

174. Ardea herodias. Great Heron. Crane. Frequent. 

175. " egretta. White Crane. Frequent in autumn on the Delaware River. 

176. " candidissima. Snowy Heron. " " " 

177. " ludoviciana. Louisiana Heron. A rare visitor. 

178. " caerulea. Blue Heron. Occasionally on the Delaware River. 

179. Ardetta exilis. Least Bittern. " " " 

180. Botaurus lentiginosus. Bittern. Occasionally along creeks and the Dela- 

ware River. 

181. Butorides virescens. Green Heron. Frequent. 

182. N^yctiardea Gardeni. Night Heron. Occasionally occurs. 

183. Ibis alba. White Ibis. A rare straggler on the Delaware River. 

184. " Ordii. Glossy Ibis. " " " 

185. Charadnus virginicus. Golden Plover. Sparingly every autumn, but some- 

times in large numbers. 

186. Squatarola helvetica. Black-bellied Plover. Sparingly every autumn, but 

sometimes in large numbers. 

187. Mgialites vocifenis. Eilldeer. Common, but less so than formerly. 

188. " semipalmatus. Little Plover. Occasionally along the Delaware. 

189. Phalaropus hyperboreus. Phalarope. Rarely on the Delaware River, 

190. Eusticola minor. Woodcock. Frequent. 

191. Gallinago Wilsonii. Snipe. In spring and autumn, sometimes abundant, 

192. " ^mea. Red-breasted Snipe. Occasionally on the Delaware River. 

193. Tringa canutus. Gray-back. Gray Snipe. " " 

194. " americana. Red-backed Sandpiper. " " 

195. " maculata. Jack Snipe. " " 

196. " Wilsonii. Little Sandpiper. " " 

197. " Bonapartei. Little Snipe, " " 



BIRDS OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 439 

198. Tringa pusilla. Semipalmated Sandpiper. Occasionally on Del. River. 

199. Calidris arenaria. Sanderling. " " 

200. Totanus semipalviatus. Willet. " " 
201 " melanolencus. Tell-tale. " " 

202. " flavipes. Yellow-legged Snipe. Frequent along streams. 

203. Totanus solitarius. Solitary Sandpiper. Frequent. 

204. " macularius. Spotted Sandpiper. Frequent. 

205. Actiturus Bartramius. Field Plover. Occasionally occurs, and probably 

resident in summer. 

206. Limosa fedoa. Godwit. Occasionally on the Delaware River. 

207. Numenius longirostris. Curlew. " " " 

208. Rallus elegans. Marsh Hen. " '■ " 

209. " virginianus. Virginia Rail. " " " 

210. Porzana Carolina. Rail. Carolina Rail. Frequent in spring, and abundant 

in autumn on the Delaware. 

211. Porzana noveboracensis. Little Yellow Rail. Occasionally occurs. 

212. " jamaicensis. Little Black Rail. Rare, but occasionally occurs. 

213. Fulica americana. Coot. Mud Hen. Occasionally on the Delaware. 

214. Cygnus americanus. American Swan. Very rarely on the Delaware. 

215. Bernicla canadensis. Wild Goose. Occasionally seen, but less common than 

formerly. 

216. Bernicla hrenta. Brant. Occasionally on the Delaware River. 

217. Anas boschas. Mallard. On the Delaware, sometimes abundant, but less 

common than formerly. 

218. Anas obscura. Black Duck. On the Delaware, sometimes abundant, but 

less common than formerly. 

219. Dafila acuta. Sprig-tail. On the Delaware, sometimes abundant, but less 

common than formerly. 

220. Nettion carolinensis. Green-winged Teal. On the Delaware, sometimes 

abundant, but less common than formerly. 

221. Querquedula discors. Blue-winged Teal. On the Delaware, sometimes 

abundant, but less common than formerly. 

222. Spatula clypeata. Shoveller. Occasionally on the Delaware. 

223. Aix sponsa. Summer Duck. " " " 

224. Fuligula marila. Scaup. Black-head Duck. On the Delaware and smaller 

streams, sometimes abundant. 

225. Fuligula affinis. Lesser Black-head. Occasionally on the Delaware. 

226. '• valisneria. Canvas-back. " " " 

227. " americana. Pochard. Red-head. " " " 

228. " albeola. Butter-ball. Buflfel-head. Frequent on the Delaware in 
winter. 

229. Erismaiura rubida. Ruddy Duck. Spine-tail. Occasionally on the Delaware. 

230. Ilergus americanus. Shelldrake. " " 

231. " serrator. Red-breasted Merganser. " " 

332. " cucullatus. Hooded Merganser. " ' " 

333. Pelecanus erythrorhynchus. Pelican. Very rarely visits the Delaware. 

334. Graculus dilophus. Crested Cormorant. " " " 

335. Larus marinus. Black-backed Gull. On the Delaware in winter. 

336. " argentatus. Herring Gull. " " " 

337. " delawarensis. Ring-billed Gull. " " " 

238. " atricillus. Laughing Gull. Black-headed Gull. Occasionally on the 
Delaware in winter. 

239. Larus philadelphicus. Lesser Black-headed Gull. On the Delaware in 

winter- 

240. Colymbus iorquaius. Loon. Northern River. Frequent in winter. 

241. Podiceps cristaius. Crested Grebe. Occasionally on the Delaware in winter. 

242. " cornutus. Horned Grebe. " " " 

243. Podylimbus carolinensis. Smaller Grebe. " " " 



CLIMATE OF DELAWARE COUITT. 



The character of our climate is so perfectly exhibited in the two following 
tables, prepared by the late Joseph Edwards, from observations carefully made 
by himself during a series of nine years, that it will be unnecessary to make any 
observations on the subject. Three daily observations were made by Mr. 
Edwards at his residence at " Chrome Dale," one mile west of the Hall of the 
Delaware County Institute of Science, in latitude 39° 55^ 18^^, and longitude 1° 
36^ 10^^ east from Washington. The residence of Mr. Edwards was situated 
196 feet above tide-water, and the observations were made at seven o'clock, a.m. 
and at two and nine, p.m. 



S 









"1 


.381 

1.862 
1.063 

2.710 




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Nov. 

49.72 
46 08 
40.29 
40.64 
44 87 
42.49 
44.95 
41.74 
40.83 


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May 

67.16 
65.40 
69.99 
60.48 
60.72 
62.34 
60.52 
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58 95 


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2.03 
3.37 
2.01 
2.96 
1 51 

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6.29 
4.69 
2.84 
6.89 

4.06 
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1.77 

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4.47 
2.97 
3 81 
1.98 
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1.66 
1.74 
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2.67 




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POPULATIOI OF DELAWARE COUITT, 

AS EXHIBITED BY THE CENSUS OF 1860. 





Whites. 


Colored. 




Townships and Boroughs. 


Males. 


Females. 


Males. 


Females 


Aggregate 


Aston Township, 


809 


801 


36 


25 


1,671 


Bethel Township, . 


260 


243 


5 


3 


511 


Birmingham Township, . 


298 


264 


32 


27 


621 


Chester Borough, ; 


2,055 


2,159 


195 


222 


4,631 


Chester Township, . 


956 


1,010 


32 


28 


2,026 


Concord Township, 


585 


528 


64 


52 


1,229 


Darby Borough, 


363 


370 


19 


28 


780 


Darby Township, 


301 


303 


58 


55 


717 


Edgmont Township, 


291 


332 


12 


12 


647 


Haverford Township, 


627 


695 


19 


9 


1,350 


Lower Chichester Township, . 


441 


493 


28 


29 


991 


Marple Township, . 


431 


. 445 


19 


21 


916 


Media Borough, 


353 


400 


72 


75 


900 


Middletown Township, . 


1,176 


1,156 


32 


33 


2,397 


Nether Providence Township, . 


699 


771 


13 


14 


1,497 


Newtown Township, 


410 


396 


12 


12 


830 


Radnor Township, . 


599 


611 


10 


10 


1,230 


Ridley Township, . 


630 


658 


16 


20 


1,324 


Springfield Township, 


534 


551 


9 


15 


1,109 


Tinicum Township, 


84 


73 


20 


16 


193 


Thornbury Township, 


462 


486 


32 


37 


1,017 


Upper Chichester Township, . 


264 


263 


14 


14 


555 


Upper Darby Township, . 


1,234 


1,294 


18 


25 


2,571 


Upper Providence Township, . 


388 
14,250 


396 
14,698 


50 


50 


884 


817 


832 


30,597 



Per additional statistics, see note N. 



EIOGRAPHY OP EARLY SETTLERS 

AND 

EMINENT MEN OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



Anderson, William, was born in 
Pennsylvania about the year 1759. At 
the commencement of the Revolution- 
ary War he was quite a youth, yet he 
joined the American army when it was 
first organized, or shortly afterwards, 
probably in the capacity of a private, 
and continued in the service till the 
end of the war, when he held a cap- 
tain's commission. He shared many of 
the hardships of the Revolutionary 
struggle, and participated in many of 
its battles — was at the Valley Forge, 
the Battle of Germantown. and Siege 
of Yorktown. After retiring to private 
life he married and settled in Chester, 
where he continued to reside during his 
life. Being a man of ability and ster- 
ling integrity, and having so long and 
so faithfully served his country in the 
time of its greatest need, he was select- 
ed for various public trusts, and was 
eventually elected a member of Con- 
gress, which office he held many years. 
In the latter part of his life he was em- 
ployed in connection with the collec- 
tion of the customs. In politics he was 
a Democrat of the Jefferson school, but 
from his amiable deportment always 
commanded the respect of his political 
opponents. His daughter, Evelina, be- 
came the wife of the late Commodore 
Porter, of the U. S. Navy. 

Arnold, Richard, with his wife Sa- 
rah, was an early settler in Thornbury, 
but not one of the earliest. It does not 
appear that he was a Friend, though 
some of his children were. He had 
ten children, all born before 1714, 
viz. : John, Grace, Thomas, Josiah, 
William, Elizabeth, Richard, Sarah 
and Anthony, several of whom were 
married according to the rules of the 
Society of Friends. Richard, the elder, 
died in 1720, his son John having died 
unmarried tliree years earlier. 



Ashbridge, George, a member of the 
Society of Friends, had settled within 
the bounds of Chester Monthly Meeting 
as early as 1688, then, probably, quite a 
young man. In 1701 he married Mary 
Maylen of Providence. Their children 
were Joseph, John, George, Jonathan, 
Elizabeth, Mary, Aaron, Hannah and 
Phebe. ■ At the time of his death, in 
1748, he owned and occupied a planta- 
tion in Chester township. 

Andries, Lace, was, for a time, one 
of the Justices of Upland Court. He 
was a Swedish immigrant and resided 
in Moyamensing. 

Bailey, Joel, was an early settler in 
the vicinity of Chester — probably at 
first west of Chester creek above the 
mill. In 1687 he was married accord- 
ing to the usages of Friends to Ann 
Short, after which he became a resident 
of Aston. In 1704 the family removed 
to Marlborough. Their children were 
Mary, Ann, Daniel, Isaac and Joel. 
Their descendants are numerous in 
Chester county at the present day. Joel 
Bailey died in 1732, at an advanced age. 

Baker, Joseph, with his wife, Mary, 
migrated from England as early as 
1685, and settled on a large tract of 
land in Edgmont. They had several 
children at the time of their arrival. 
Of these, Hannah intermarried with 
Francis Yarnall, and Dorothy with 
Philip Yarnall. He devised all his land 
in Edgmont to his son, John, born in 
this county in 1686. Joseph was in 
membership with Friends and was fre- 
quently concerned in the business of 
their meetings. He was also an influ- 
ential man in the community and re- 
presented Chester County in the Pro- 
vincial Assembly. He died in 1716 
leaving his' wife to survive him. His 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



443 



brother John, who died in Philadelphia 
in 1685, came from Edgmont, in Shrop- 
shire, England, which was, doubtless, 
the transatlantic residence of Joseph, 
and hence the name of the township in 
which he settled. 

Baldwin, Thomas, settled on the 
southwest side of Chester creek above 
Chester mills, about the year 1697, but 
afterwards removed to Chester, where 
he died in 1731. His children were 
Thomas, Joseph, William, Anthony, 
Mary, Martha and Elizabeth. 

Baldwin, John, was an early settler 
in Aston township. In 1689 he was 
married according to the usages of 
Friends, to Katharine Turner, a widow. 
Though in membership with Friends, 
he does not appear to have taken much 
interest in the Society. Their children 
were two — Ruth and John, the latter of 
whom was married to Hannah John- 
son. The elder John was a brother of 
Thomas and Francis Baldwin. By trade 
was a blacksmith, and came to reside 
in Chester in the latter part of his life, 
where he died in 1732, leaving a consi- 
derable property. Both his children 
were then deceased. Francis Baldwin 
was also a settler in the neighborhood 
of Chester as early as 1686. 

Barbee, Robert, was an early resi- 
dent of the borough of Chester. He 
wai in membership with Friends, and. 
in 1690 married Hannah Ogden, also a 
member. He appears to have carried on 
the shoemaking business. Died in 1708. 

Ball, John, came from Derbyshire, 
England, and settled in Darby, now 
Upper Darby, in 1689. It appears that 
he had been married in England, as his 
son Roger was married to Mary 
Scotborn in 1709. They were in unity 
with Friends. 

Barnard, Isaac D., son of James 
and Susanna Barnard, was born in 
Aston township in 1791. His father 
being elected sheriff the following year, 
purchased a farm near the borough of 
Chester, upon which he resided till 
1800, when, having received the ap- 
pointment of Register, Recorder, Pro- 
thonotary and Clerk of the several 
Courts of Delaware county, he removed 
into the borough. Neither on the farm, 



nor while residing within the town of 
Chester, had young Barnard any op- 
portunity of obtaining more than an 
ordinary common-school education. 
At the early age of thirteen years he 
was taken from school and employed in 
the oflRce of his father as a clerk, in 
which situation, by his obliging atten- 
tion and aptness in the performance of 
his duties, he soon gained the confidence 
and respect of those whose business 
caused them to visit the office. His 
father died in 1806, but young Barnard 
had become such an expert clerk, 
and with all so much of a favorite in 
the office, that Thomas B. Dick, who 
succeeded his father, very wisely se- 
cured a continuance of his services. 
In 1809 he left Chester and entered the 
office of F. Wolbert, Prothonotary of 
Philadelphia, where he continued till 
the spring of 1811, when be returned 
to Chester and entered the oiSce of 
William Graham, Esq., as a student of 
law. While still a student, and shortly 
before he became of age, he obtained a 
captain's commission in the regular 
army ; and soon after war was declared 
with Great Britain, in 1812, he was 
employed in the recruiting service, and 
opened a rendezvous at West Chester. 
Early in the spring of 1813 he pro- 
ceeded, with his company, to Sackett's 
Harbor and joined the regiment of 
General Winder — was present at the 
capture of Fort George, in May of that 
year, and by his gallantry in that affair, 
and the good discipline of his com- 
mand, commended himself to the fa- 
vorable notice of his superior officers. 
He received the appointment of major 
out of the regular order of promotion, 
and in that capacity was with General 
Izzard at Plattsburg, where his conduct 
again received the ap{)robation of his 
commander. In the battle at Lyon's 
creek his conduct in executing a gal- 
lant charge elicited the special notice 
of General Bissell. 

After the close of the war, Major 
Barnard left the army, resumed his 
studies, was admitted to the bar in 
1816, and commenced the practice of 
the law at West Chester. He soon 
received the appointment of Deputy At- 
torney General, and in 1820 was elected 
to the State Senate — the County of 
Delaware giving him his whole ma- 
jority. In 1826 he was appointed Se- 
cretary of the Commonwealth under 



444 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Governor Shulze — and about a year 
afterwards was elected to the United 
States Senate. In 1831, on account of 
ill health, he resigned his seat in the 
Senate, but while a member of that 
body he became a prominent candidate 
before the Democratic convention for 
nomination as Governor of the State, and 
was only defeated by a combination of 
corrupt factions. Not long after he 
commenced the practice of the law, he 
was married to Harriet, the eldest 
daughter of Judge Darlington of West 
Chester, but they had no children. His 
death occurred in 1834, at the age of 
forty-three years. 

Barnard Richard, came from Shef- 
field, England, either in company with 
William Penn or very shortly after- 
wards, and settled in Middletown. He 
was a Grand Juror in 1685, and served 
the constable's office for Middletown in 
1691. He was married at the time of 
his arrival in this country, and died 
prior to 1704. His children were 
Richard, who married Ann, the daughter 
of Abia Taylor ; Thomas, who married 
Elizabeth Swain of Newark, and after- 
wards Sarah Carter of Chester Meet- 
ing ; Sarah, who married ; 

Mary, who married Jacob Roman ; 
Lucy, who married Thomas Dutton ; 
Lydia, who married Daniel Walker ; 
and Rebecca, who married Enoch 
Flower. Richard Barnard the elder, 
was in membership with Friends, as 
all his children appear to have been. 
After his death, the land he had pur- 
chased in Aston was sold by his son 
Richard to his brother Thomas who 
settled there. Richard then removed 
to Marlborough. 

Bartram, John, from Ashborn in 
Derbyshire, England, came to Pennsyl- 
vania in 1683, and settled in Darby 
township west of Darby creek. He 
was the son of Richard Bartram, and 
had been married and settled some 
time in the town of Ashborn. At the 
time of his removal to America, his 
family consisted of his wife Elizabeth, 
three sons — John, Isaac and William, 
and one daughter, Mary. He died on 
the first of September, 1697, in full 
unity with the Society of Friends, 
having lost his son John five years 
before. Mary was married to John 
Wood of Darby in 1696. 



Bartram, Isaac, the second son of 
the immigrant, John Bartram, became 
possessed of all his father's real estate 
by virtue of a deed of gift executed a 
short time before his death. Isaac 
probably resided with his mother on 
the mansion-farm in Darby township 
till 1708, when he died unmarried, 
having devised the family homestead 
to his mother during life, and then to 
John, (the botanist,) the eldest son of 
his brother William. 

Bartram, William, the youngest son 
of the elder John Bartram, was married 
to Elizabeth, the daughter of James 
HuntofKingsessing, at Darby meeting, 
on the 27th of March, 1696, by whom 
he had two sons, John (the botanist) 
and James. His wife died in 1701. In 
1707 he was married to Elizabeth, the 
daughter of William Smith of Darby, 
by whom he had two children, William 
and Elizabeth. In 1712 he removed to 
Carolina with his " wife and youngest 
child," but probably died before the end 
of the year, as his will was admitted to 
probate on the I7th of January, 1713. 

Bartram, John, the earliest of 
American botanists, and the first to 
establish a botanic garden in America, 
was the eldest son of the above named 
William Bartram, and grandson of the 
immigrant, John. He was born in Darby 
township on the 23rd March, 1699. By 
the will of his uncle, Isaac Bartram, he 
became possessed of the mansion prop- 
erty of his grandfather, and by the will 
of his father, of one fourth of his 
estate, which is not supposed to have 
been large. 

Being left an orphan at the age of about 
thirteen years in a newly settled coun- 
try almost destitute of schools, it can- 
not be supposed, that his opportunities 
for obtaining an education were very 
good. Such as they were, they were 
embraced by him with all the spirit of 
youthful enthusiasm ; devoting him- 
self to the study of Latin and Greek 
when opportunity presented. His in- 
clination was to study physic and 
surgery, and in the latter science he 
had acquired so much knowledge as to 
be useful to his neighbors. His study 
of nature commenced while engaged 
in the labor of the field. From her 
ample volume wide spread before him, 
John Bartram took his earliest lessons. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



445 



Conceiving the idea of a botanic gar- 
den, he, in the year 1728, purchased 
the site of the well known " Bartram^s 
garden" on the banks of the Schuyl- 
kill, now the property of Thomas East- 
wick, Esq. A further notice of John 
Bartram as a botanist would be incom- 
patible with this work ; his biography 
in this respect belongs to the State and 
to the nation. 

He was twice married ; to his first 
wife in 1723 — to his second in 1729. 
^iB first wife was Mary, the daughter of 
Richard and Elizabeth Maris of Spring- 
field township. His second was Ann, 
the daughter of Benjamin Mendenhall 
of Concord. By the first marriage he 
had two children ; by his second nine. 
He was married both times in accord- 
ance with the discipline of the Society 
of Friends, of which Society he was a 
member till 1758, when he was dis- 
owned for entertaining opinions sup- 
posed not to be in accordance with 
the doctrines of that sect. His religious 
V>elief may be gathered from a distitch 
conspicuously engraved with his own 
hands over the window of an apart- 
ment in his house devoted to study 
and retirement ; and from its date it 
may be concluded that he held the 
same doctrine till the end of his days. 

" Tis God alone, Almighty Lord, 
The Holy One, by me adored." 

" John Bartram, 1770." 

His death occurred on the 22nd of 
September, 1777, shortly after the 
battle of Brandywine, and it was sup- 
posed to have been hastened by the 
apprehension that " his darling garden, 
the cherished nursling of almost half a 
century," might not be spared from tlie 
ravages that the approaching British 
army were then committing in his 
vicinity. He had frequently expressed 
a desire that his last illness might be 
short, and in this he was especially 
gratified. His age was seventy-eight 
years and six months. [For a more 
particular account of this great man, 
the reader is refered to " Ilemorials of 
Bartram ^ Marshall" edited by Dr. 
William Darlington, and published in 
1849.] 

Baynton, Peter, a man of some 
ability and plausible address, but des- 
titute of moral principle, came from 
England, and settled in the town of 
Chester about the year 1690. He soon 



gained the confidence of the people, and 
at the same time secured the affections 
of a lady, whom he married. There are 
reasons for believing that the lady who 
became his dupe, was Ann, the widow 
of James Sandelandes. His career in 
America was short, but brilliant. He 
was appointed a justice of the Chester 
Court, and presided at its sittings, 
which were sometimes held at his 
house. In two or three years, how- 
ever, he suddenly returned to England, 
carrying most of his property with him, 
and leaving his wife without competent 
means for her support. After his 
ari-ival in England, he married another 
woman, a fact which he had the un- 
feeling impudence to communicate to 
his wife here, with an intimation of 
his intention to send for the balance of 
the property he had left. This, how- 
ever, was prevented by a timely appli- 
cation to the Governor and Council. 

Beal, or Bales, John, was an early 
settler in the lower part of Aston. He 
was married to Mary, the daughter of 
William Clayton, Sr., in 1682. They 
were Friends, and so far as known, 
their children were John, William, 
Jacob, Mary and Patience. The family, 
after some time, removed to Notting- 
ham, where John died in 1726. 

Bennett, John, intermarried with 
Ann, the eldest daughter of William 
Brinton, the pioneer immigrant, in 
1684, at Slower Bridge Friends' Meet- 
ing, in England, and soon afterwards 
came to this country and settled near 
his father-in-law, in Birmingham. He 
died in 1709, leaving four children to 
survive him, viz., William, John, Ann 
and Olive. He became a large land- 
holder in Birmingham before his death. 
He was appointed constable of Birming- 
ham, when first organized as a town- 
ship, in 1686. 

Bennett, Edward, purchased land in 
Concord, in the year 1686, and doubt- 
less settled there, as he that year mar- 
ried Margery Willis. He was probably 
a brother of John Bennett, and she a 
sister of John Willis, the son-in-law of 
the immigrant William Brinton. 

Bethel, John, with his wife Frances 
and family, came to occupy the mill 
property of Darby about the year 1693, 



446 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



and he soon afterwards became the 
owner of it. He doubtless had resided 
in the country some time previously. 
In 1699, his wife died, and in 1*703 he 
married Jane Parker, by whom he had 
one child, Samuel. His children by his 
tirst wife were John, Joseph, William, 
Sarah and Mary. John the younger 
intermarried with Rose Smith ; Mary 
with Job Harvey ; and Sarah with Oba- 
diah Bonsall. The other children pro- 
bably died unmarried. They were all 
in membership with Friends, and in 
the latter part of his life the elder John 
was active and influential in meeting 
atfairs. He represented the County of 
Chester in the Provincial Assembly, in 
17U7, and died about the close of that 
year or the commencement of the next. 

Bevan, John, or John Ap, as he was 
sometimes called, was born in Gla- 
morganshire, Wales, in 1646, being the 
eldest of five children His parents, 
who were wealthy, died while he was 
quite young. Being the heir^ when he 
arrived at age, he found himself in pos- 
session of a large estate, while his 
brothers were unprovided for — his only 
sister being dead. His strong sense 
of justice at once induced him to " por- 
tion all his brothers, and give them a 
helpful subsistence in the world." In 
1665 he was married to a religious wo- 
man, a strict member of the Establish- 
ed Church, who, when her husband 
had shown a disposition to become a 
Quaier, was distressed, and felt it to 
be her duty to interpose her serious 
objections. They argued the question 
without result ; but the indiscretion of 
the priest, in pronouncing the sentence 
of excommunication without previous 
notice against the husband, in pre- 
sence of the wife, so shocked her feel- 
ings as to make her nearly faint away, 
and after a time made her willing " to 
search closely into the weighty work of 
salvation.'' They both became Quakers, 
and in the language of their certificate, 
were regarded " as a nursing father 
and a nursing mother to (the spiritually) 
weak and young" of their neighborhood. 

In 1683, John Bevan, with his family, 
removed to Pennsylvania, and settled 
either in Merion or Haverford, his land 
being located in both townships. He 
had been a pillar of the Meeting he 
left, he was equally so of Haverford 
Meeting, which he aided in establish- 



ing, and which was frequently held at 
his house in its infancy. He stood high 
as a preacher in the Society, and the 
records of Haverford attest his con- 
stancy and efficiency in the promotion 
of works of benevolence and charity. 
While in the country he traveled much 
as a minister, and in 1704, visited his 
native land on " truth's account," ac- 
companied by his wife and his youngest 
daughter, Barbara, who was also a 
preacher. He never returned to Ame- 
rica, but after suffering some persecu- 
tion, being imprisoned in Cardiff gaol 
in 1721, he died shortly afterwards. 
He had four children married in Penn- 
sylvania. His daughter Jane to John 
Wood, of Darby, in 1687 ; son Evan to 
Eleanor Wood,' of Darby, in 1693 ; 
daughter Elizabeth to Joseph Richard- 
son, of Philadelphia, 1696 ; and one 
other. 

Bbazer, John, one of the Commis- 
sioners appointed by William Penn to 
lay out the City of Philadelphia, was 
a resident of Bishops Canning in Wilt- 
shire. In consequence of his appoint- 
ment he arrived before the Proprietary 
made his first visit in 1682. He was 
accompanied by his wife Susanna, or 
she followed him soon afterwards. 
They settled at Marcus Hook, where 
John died in 1684. John was a public 
Friend, and appears to have lived up 
to his religious profession. Before 
leaving England his business was that 
of a maltster. He had been a Quaker 
many years, and had suffered much 
persecution, by imprisonment,whipping 
and the stocks. It seems, however, 
that he invited a part of this persecu- 
tion, by speaking in the " Steeple- 
house at Marlborough." So far as is 
known, he had four children, viz. : — 
John, Richard, Susannah, (who inter- 
married with Nathaniel Lampleigh) and 
Frances, (who became the wife of John 
Hendrickson, John having first united 
with the Society of Friends.) 

Beazee, Edward, a brother of the 
above named John, came from Rowde, 
in the county of Wilts, England, and 
was a very early settler in Bethel. 
Edward Pennick married his sister 
Frances. He was a Friend, and monthly 
meetings were held at his house in 
1686. He died in 1688. By trade he 
was a mason. He left a son Edward. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



447 



Biles, William, never resided in De- 
laware County. He arrived at Bur- 
lington in the year 1678, in a ship from 
London, in company with Jersey set- 
tlers, and established his abode in what 
is now Bucks County, but which at 
that time was embraced in Upland 
County. Upon the establishment of 
Penn's government, he was appointed 
one of the Justices of Upland Court, 
•which ofBce he held till after the ar- 
rival of Penn and the division of the 
Province into three counties. He was 
a man of ability and the strictest in- 
tegrity — was frequently a member of 
Council and of the Provincial Assem- 
bly, but withal, was a preacher, and 
an active and influential member of 
the Society of Friends. He was one 
of the signers of the celebrated testi- 
mony against George Keith. 

Blunston, John, one of the earliest 
of the Quaker colonists of Darby, emi- 
grated from Derbyshire, England, in 
1682, and brought with him the follow- 
ing certificate, which is introduced as 
a specimen of those documents : 

" This is to certify to whom it may con- 
cern that John Blunston of Little Hallam 
in the County of Darby hath it in his 
mind to transport himself into Pennsyl- 
vania in America : that y^ said John 
Blunston hath walked orderly & so far 
forth, as wee know is Cleare upon all ac- 
counts. 

Att Breath house y^ 13'ii of y^ 5th 
month 1682 by us whose names are 
heare under written 
John Roads William Woolly 

Edmund Cartledge Richard Seaford 
Thomas Whittle Adam Roades 

Joshua Fearne Samuel Fox 

Joseph Potter Michael Blunston 

Will. Day" 

John Blunston was married and had 
two children by his wife tSarah, at the 
time of his arrival. As no mention is 
made in his certificate that he was a 
preacher, it may be inferred that he 
had not appeared in the ministry till 
after his arrival here, where his public 
testimonies were frequent. The early 
meetings of Darby were held at his 
house, which stood near the mill-race, 
and nearly in front of the present 
Friends' meeting-house at Darby. 

Besides attending strictly to his re- 
ligious duties, his time was much occu- 
pied in public employments. He was 
a member of the Provincial Assembly 



thirteen years, and several times held 
the position of Speaker of that body. 
He was also for a time a member of 
Council ; was appointed by Wm. Penn 
one of the Council of State, and was 
one of the Justices of the Court. He 
■was a member of the Society of Free 
Traders, and frequently acted as attor- 
ney for persons residing in England 
who held laud here. He took a firm 
stand in opposition to George Keith, 
and signed the testimony against him. 
His wife Sarah died in 1692, and in 
1699 he married Margaret, the widow 
of Joseph Steadman, of Springfield. 
His children by his first wife were Sa- 
rah, Katharine, John and Joseph. The 
last named dying young, he named an 
only child by his second wife, Joseph, 
who also died in early life. John 
Blunston, Jr., married Anne, the daugh- 
ter of James Hunt ; Katharine inter- 
married with Adam Roads, and Sarah 
with Josiah Fearne. John Blunston, 
the elder, died in 1723. 

Blunston, Michael, came from Lit- 
tle Hallam, " County of Darby," in 

1682, and at first settled in the town of 
Darby. In 1691 he was married at 
Darby to Hannah, the daughter of Sa- 
muel Levis, of Springfield, when he 
probably removed to what is now Up- 
per Darby. His wife died in 1705, and 
in 1708 he was again married. His 
second wife was Phebe Pecho, also of 
Springfield. This lady was born in 
England in 1666, and became quite 
eminent as a preacher among the Qua- 
kers. Michael was also a devout mem- 
ber of that Society. He died in 1736, 
and his wife in 1749, at the advanced 
age of 83 years. It does not appear 
that he had children by either mar- 
riage. He bequeathed £80 in trust, 
" to be employed in entertaining honest 
Friends," and £50 "to school the chil- 
dren of poor Friends of Darby Monthly 
Meeting." 

BoNSALL, Richard, with his wife 
Mary and family, came from Mould- 
ridge, in Derbj'shire, England, and set- 
tled in Darby (now Upper Darby) in 

1683. They had not been very long 
married at the time of their arrival 
here, as a number of their children 
were born in this country. They were 
both members of the Society of Friends. 
Richard died in 1699, and his wife one 



448 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



year earlier. Their son Obadiati, born 
in England, was married to Sarah Be- 
thell ; their daughter Rebecca to Daniel 
Hibberd,- and their daughter Ann to 
Josiah Hibberd. Their descendants 
are very numerous. 

Booth, Robert, came from Knares- 
borough, in the North Riding of York- 
shire, England, in IT 13, and settled in 
Bethel township. He was in member- 
ship with Friends, and brought a cer- 
tificate to Concord Meeting. In 1*715, 
he married Betty Caston. Their chil- 
dren were Joseph, Mercy, Robert, John, 
Mary, Ann, and Elizabeth. He died 
in 1727, leaving his wife to survive 
him. A Charles Booth, a member of 
the Society of Friends, was settled 
within the bounds of Chester Meeting 
earlier than Robert settled within the 
bounds of Concord. So far as is known 
he had three children, viz. : Mary, Ly- 
dia and Jonathan. 

BowATER, John, before he became a 
settler within our limits, had visited 
New England, Maryland and Virginia 
as a public Friend. This was about 
the year 1677 or 1678. In the year 
1684, he, with his wife Frances, arrived 
in PhiladeljDhia, and after remaining 
there a short time, removed to Middle- 
town township, in this County. As 
early as 1687, meetings were held afhis 
house, which in due time became 
" Middletown Meeting.'" The consist- 
ency of this couple as exemplary mem- 
bers of the Society of Friends, was fully 
maintained at their new home. Their 
children were, Mary, William, Eliza- 
beth, John and Alice. John, the elder, 
died before 1705, his wife surviving 
him till 1720. It is believed that his 
place of residence in England was 
Bromesgrove, in Worcestershire, where 
he had suffered persecution on account 
of his religion. 

BowATER, Thomas, was an early set- 
tler within the limits of Chester Month- 
ly Bleeting of Friends. In 1686, he 
married Sarah Edge, when he probably 
settled in Edgmont township. Their 
children were, Sarah and Thomas. His 
wife died in 1692, but in 1701 he was 
again married to Frances Barnet, a wi- 
dow of Chichester, and in 1720 he re- 
moved to New Garden. 



Bracet, Thomas, from Wilaston, 
Cheshire, England, arrived at Chester 
(Upland) in 1682. He appears to have 
been a man of means and of reliable 
integrity — was a member of the So- 
ciety of Free Traders, and at a meeting 
of that society held at London on the 
29th of May, he was placed at the head 
of a committee of twelve to reside in 
Pennsylvania and manage the affairs 
of the society here. He was a member 
of the first Provincial Assembly held 
in Philadelphia in 1683, and doubtless 
took a part in that held at Chester pre- 
viously. But notwithstanding the pub- 
lic trusts wi+h which he was charged, 
he found time to give constant atten- 
tion to the meetings of the Friends, of 
which he appears to have been a highly 
respected member and an esteemed 
minister. He made a settlement in 
the upper part of Chester township, 
but in his latter years lived in the bor- 
ough. He died in 1691, leaving two 
daughters to survive him, Rebecca, 
who was married to Thomas Thomson 
of New Jersey, and Mary, who became 
the wife of Francis Worley. 

Thomas Bracc}^ had suffered distress 
of his goods in his native country for 
preaching the gospel and for absenting 
himself from the national worship. 

Bradshaw, Samuel, an original pur- 
chaser of land in England, came from 
Oxton, County of Nottingham, and set- 
tled in Darby township in 1682. In 
1686 he was married to Mary Duckett 
"at the house of Thomas Duckett of 
Skoolkill." This house was then a 
regular place of meeting, and was con- 
nected in forming a monthly meeting 
with Haverford and Merion. He did not 
take a very active part in meeting affairs. 

Bradshaw, Thomas, was from the 
same place as the above named Sam- 
uel, and was probably his brother. He 
arrived the next year after Samuel, and 
settled on an adjoining tract of land in 
Darby township. He was married to 
Sarah, the daughter of Samuel Levis, 
in 1687. She died in 1701, he sur- 
viving her till 1727. Asa Friend, he 
was more active in business matters 
than Samuel. He left four children, 
Hannah, John, Mary, and Sarah. 

Brinton, William, with his wife Ann, 
son William, and daughters Elizabeth 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



449 



and Esther, emigrated from Nether 
Gournall, parish of Sedgeley, Staftbrd- 
sliire, (near Birmingham), England, in 
the year 1684. He arrived in Phila- 
delphia, and while detained there in 
making arrangements for a permanent 
Settlement, he presented two certifi- 
cates to a Friends meeting, "held at 
the governor's house" on the 4th of the 
9th mo. (November) 1684. One of 
these certificates is from the monthly 
meeting of Dudley, and is dated the 
15th of the nth mo. 1683. The other 
is from " his dealers & Correspondents," 
and is dated January 14th, 1683. They 
were accepted by the meeting. Having 
made two separate purchases of two 
hundred and two hundred and fiftj' 
acres of land, he, in 1685, had them 
located adjoining each other in what 
is now Birmingham township ; the lo- 
cation which was then a little outside 
of the bounds of civilization, having 
been selected on account of the supe- 
rior quality of the ground. Here he 
erected his cabin, and during the first 
winter, which was a severe one, suf- 
fered great privations, the Indians min- 
istering to his necessities bj'' bringing 
timely supplies of game. William Brin- 
ton was born in 1630, and was fifty- 
four years of age when he arrived in 
this country. His wife, who was the 
daughter of Edward Bagley, was five 
years younger. The year before his 
arrival William had suffered religious 
persecution in having goods distrained 
to the value of £5 lis. to satisfy a fine 
of 26s. imposed under the non-con- 
formity act. After other settlements had 
been made in his neighborhood, meet- 
ings were sometimes held in his primi- 
tive dwelling, generally designated " the 
Cabin. ■' William for a time sided with the 
Keithites, but upon reflection resumed 
his former position with Friends. He 
was a man of a religious turn of mind, 
but withal managed his affairs so well, 
that at the time of his decease in ITOO, 
he was possessed of a large estate, 
particularly in lands. His wife died 
one year before him. In a narrative 
of her life drawn up by himself, he 
says "she was much respected in old 
England as well as in these parts of 
the world." They were both buried 
on the mansion farm. Besides their 
children mentioned, he had a daughter 
Ann, who intermarried with John Ben- 
nett in England in 1684. They immi- 

29 



grated shortly afterwards and settled 
on a part of her father's purchase. Of 
the other two daughters, Elizabeth 
married Hugh Harris, and Esther, John 
Willis. William, the only son, married 
Jane Thatcher. The descendants of 
William Brinton are very numerous, 
and very many of them occupy highly 
respectable positions in society. It is 
believed that all bearing the name of 
Brinton in Pennsylvania are descended 
from him. For more than a century 
the name was pronounced Branton. 

Brinton, William, the only son of the 
above William, was born about the year 
1667, emigrated with his fathei", and in' 
1690 was married to Jane, the daughter 
of Richard Thatcher, a neighboring set- 
tler of Thornbury, in accordance with the 
good order of the Society of Friends. 
In 1*704 he built a stone house on the 
mansion farm to supply the place of 
the cabin of his father, which is still 
standing aad in a good state of preser- 
vation ; he was also one of the pro- 
jectors and owners of a company mill, 
the first built in Concord township. 
In 1713 he represented Chester County 
in the Provincial Assembly. Both 
William and his wife were children at 
the time of their immigration : both 
saw the country an unbroken wilder- 
ness, and both lived to see it well set- 
tled, cultivated, and improved. Will- 
iam died in 1751, aged 84 years, and 
Jane in 1755, aged 85 years. Their 
children were Joseph, William, Edward, 
Maiy, Ann, and John. Joseph was a 
man of more than ordinary ability, and 
was frequently employed in public 
trusts — was a Justice of the Courts of 
Chester County from 1730 to 1751, the 
time of his death, and frequently repre- 
sented the County in the Provincial As- 
sembly. Though born in this country, 
it is said he possessed the appearance, 
disposition, and character of an Eng- 
lishman. Edward, the third son, born 
in 1704, succeeded his brother as a 
Justice of the Court, and also repre- 
sented the County in the Provincial 
Assembly. He died in 1799. 

Bristow, John, was settled in Chester 
township as early as 1686. He pur- 
chased and resided on a tract of land 
next below the Wade tract on the river. 
His occupation was that of an edge- 
tool manufacturer, and as there was a 



450 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



malt-house on his premises, he probably 
carried on the business of malting also. 
He was a Friend, but took no very 
active part in the meetings of that So- 
ciety. He was a Justice of the Court, 
was a member of Council from 1687 
to 1690, and also represented Chester 
County in the Provincial Assembly one 
year. His death occurred in 1694. 
By his will, dated the same year, he 
gives all his property to his three chil- 
dren, John, William, and Hester, who 
were all minors ; and in the event of 
their death, his bi-other Richard of 
Bristol, England, was to be his heir. 
He, with Caleb Pusey, was appointed to 
superintend the building of the first 
meeting-house at Chester, towards the 
finishing of which he bequeathed £6. 
He owned three negroes at the time 
of his decease. John Salkeld subse- 
quently became the owner of and occu- 
pied the Bristow estate. John Bristow 
migrated from Bristol in England or 
from the neighborhood of that city. 

Brooke, William, one of the active 
participants and a Captain in the Revo- 
lutionary war, was born in Limeric, 
Montgomery County, about the year 
1750. He was very active in the mili- 
tary operations in the neighborhood 
while the British army was in Phila- 
delphia and its neighborhood. One of 
his daring exploits is detailed in the 
general narrative contained in this 
volume. He resided in Haverford 
township, and while in service his 
dwelling was plundered of nearly every 
article of food and furniture, so that 
his wife with two young children was 
obliged to turn out in the snow and 
seek a shelter elsewhere. 

Brown, James, with his wife Hannah, 
was among the earliest English set- 
tlers within our limits, having fixed 
their rsidence in Marcus Hook, before 
William Penn obtained his grant from 
King Charles. Their son, James, was 
born at that place on the 17th of the 
first mo. (March) 1681. In 1684 he 
purchased part of Walter Martin's 
"house and settlement" called 3Iidclle- 
toivn in Chichester on Naaman's Creek, 
where he subsequently resided. He 
was a member of the Society of Friends, 
but was not very zealous. His name 
occurs on the list of jurors, summoned 
to attend the first two courts under the 



Proprietary government. In 1688, he 
conveyed two acres of land to Friends, 
for the use of the Society, upon which 
Chichester meeting-house was subse- 
quently erected. 

Brown, William, born in North- 
ampton County, England, in 1656, was 
convinced of the truth of Friend's 
doctrines by the preaching of Wm. 
Dewsbury. It is probable he arrived 
about the same time as the Propiietarj^, 
and having settled in Chichester, was 
in 1684 married to Ann Mercer of 
Chester meeting. After some time he 
removed to Nottingham, where meet- 
ings were held at his house till 17 09, 
when, by order of the Quarterly meet- 
ing, they were held in the new meeting- 
house that had been erected there. 
" He was of a loving disposition, a 
serviceable member and elder in the 
church, being a pattern of plainness, 
and bore the marks of a true Christian." 
B}"- trade he was a maltster. He died 
in 1746, in the ninety-first year of his 
age. 

Brown, John, was a resident and 
taxable of Marcus Hook or vicinity as 
early as 1677. He served on the first 
jury empanneled in Pennsylvania, of 
which there is any record. There is no 
evidence that he was a Quaker. 

BuPFiNGTON, Richard, was residing 
in Upland as early as 1677. In 1679 
he purchased, in conjunction with John 
Grubb, a tract of land west of Chester 
Creek, above Chester which they called 
"Hopewell of Kent." In 1688 Richard 
Bufifington resided in Aston, and served 
the office of constable for that town- 
ship. In 1739 at the age of eighty-five, 
it is said, that he assembled at his own 
house at Chester, one hundred and fif- 
teen decendants, his eldest son then 
present being aged sixty years. The 
same tradition mentions this sou as the 
first born of English parents in Penn- 
sylvania. The records of Chester 
Monthly Meeting, testify to an earlier 
" first born," and the fact that Richard 
BufiQngton had removed to Bradford as 
early as 1708, where he continued to 
reside, renders it very probable that he 
had no house at Chester. There is, 
however, reason to believe that he was 
married more than once, and that his 
descendants were very numerous. In 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



451 



religion he was a Baptist, and was 
present when the first Baptist organi- 
zation was effected in 1715. By his 
will, made in January, 1748, shortly be- 
fore his death, he bequeathed " to 
Owen Thomas, minister of the Anna- 
baptists' Society held at John Bentley's 
in Newlin," five pounds, and to the 
Society, twenty pounds. Many of his 
numerous descendants became Friends. 

Bunting, Samuel, the first of the 
family of that name who settled with- 
in our limits, did not arrive till 1722, 
when, being a Friend, he presented his 
certificate to Darby Meeting. In 1727, 
he married Martha the daughter of 
Josiah Fearne. Samuel, though a 
very pious man, was addicted to making- 
verses. He left a poetic account of 
his voyage to America, from which we 
learn that it was a very unpleasant one. 
He was detained five weeks waiting for 
the vessel, the Neptune^ to proceed to 
sea, was sixty-five days on the water, 
and running out of provisions was 
obliged to land at Hampton, in Virginia. 
From that place the passengers walked 
to Pennsylvania. 

BusHELL, Joseph, with his wife 
Sarah, and two daughters, Jane and 
Abigail, emigi'ated from England in 
1683, and settled in Bethel township 
the next year. The family were 
Quakers, but Jane, the daughter, inter- 
married with Walter Martin, a man 
who appears to have had a particular 
dislike to the doctrines of that sect. 
Abigail became the wife of Nicholas 
Pyle of Concord, and maintained her 
standing with Friends. Joseph Bushell 
was one of the trustees to take the 
conveyance of the ground upon which 
Chichester meeting-house was erected. 
He died in 1708. He, with Enoch 
Flower, brought a joint certificate from 
Brinkworte Monthly Meeting in Eng- 
land, which was presented to the meet- 
ing at Philadelphia. 

Calvert, John, with Judith his wife 
and family, emigrated from England, 
and settled in.Upper Providence town- 
ship as early as 1685. Two of their 
children — Daniel and Mary — were born 
in Providence, but how many, besides 
one named Joshua, were born in Eng- 
land, is not known. They were 
Quakers. 



Caldwell, Vincent, came from Der- 
byshire, England, about the year 1699, 
and brought a certificate to Darby 
Monthly Meeting, of which, for a time, 
he was a member. Though a young 
unmarried man he was a preacher of 
some note, and during his sojourn at 
Darby, made a religious visit to Mary- 
land with the approbation of the meet- 
ing. In 1703 he was married to Betty 
Pierce, daughter of George Pierce, of 
Thornbury, and soon after settled in 
Marlborough, Chester County, where he 
died in 1720, aged 45 years. He con- 
tinued to be an approved minister till 
his death. His wife did not marry 
again, though she survived him thirty- 
seven years, having removed to Wil- 
mington a short time before her death, 
which happened in 1757, in the seventy- 
seventh year of her age. She lived an 
exemplary life, attending strictly to her 
religious duties, and towards its close 
appeared in the ministry. She was a 
native of Gloucestershire, England, 
having immigrated with her father in 
1683, 

Campanius, John, or John Campa- 
nius Holm, accompanied Governor 
Printz as chaplain to the Swedish co- 
lonists brought over by him in 1642, 
and remained here until 1648. His 
place of residence was doubtless at 
Tinicum, at which place, on the 4th of 
September, 1646, he consecrated a 
Swedish church — the first house of 
worship erected within the limits of 
Pennsylvania. Campanius was born 
at Stockholm in 1601, and having 
passed through his school studies with 
credit was, for a long time, employed 
as the teacher of an orphans' seminary 
in his native city. After his return to 
Sweden he was made first preacher of 
the admiralty, and became rector of an 
important parish. He died in 1683, 
aged eighty-two years. While he re- 
mained here he made himself acquaint- 
ed with the language of the Indian 
tribes, and translated Luther's Cate- 
chism into the idiom of the Delawares ; 
copies of which are still extant. The 
work that bears his name was written 
by his grandson, Thomas Campanius 
Holm, partly from memoranda left by 
his grandfather. The work is so little 
reliable that, for the credit of all con- 
cerned, it would have been well if it 
never had been written. 



452 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Carter, Edward, migrated from 
Aston, in the parish of Bampton, Ox- 
fordshire, England, and by trade was a 
carpenter. In 1682 he purchased 250 
acres of land while in England, which, 
in 1684, was located in Aston town- 
ship. He arrived here as early as the 
Proprietary, and was a member of the 
first jury empanneled for the county of 
Chester. At first he resided in Chi- 
chester but subsequently removed to 
his land that had been located in Aston, 
where he was living in 1691. He was 
a member of the Society of Friends, 
but was never very active as such and 
probably left the Society. 

Carter, Robert, only son and heir 
of the above Edward. In 1688 he 
married Lydia Wally, probably a niece 
of Robert Wade, or of his wife. They 
had a son John to whom the Aston 
property was deeded in 1717, They 
also had two daughters. Prudence and 
Hannah. They were Friends ; and Ro- 
bert was one of a committee appointed 
by the Quarterly Meeting to fix the site 
on which Providence Meeting-house 
was afterwards erected. 

Cartlidge, Edmund, came from 
" Ridings, in the county of Darby," Eng- 
land, and settled in Darby, now Upper 
Darby township, in 1683, with his wife 
Mary. As a member of the Society of 
Friends, the records of Darby Meeting 
show that he was faithful and atten- 
tive, while as a citizen he was prompt 
in the performance of his duty. He 
was a purchaser in England of 250 
acres. At the time of his death, be- 
sides his mansion tract, he held land in 
Plymouth township. His children were 
John, Mary and Edmund. An elabo- 
rately carved tombstone, represented 
by a cut on page 385, was erected to his 
memory in the Friends' burying ground 
at Darby. When the Society deter- 
mined to exclude gravestones, this one 
was doubtless buried. It was found in 
digging a grave some years since. 

Chadsey or Chadds, Francis, as 
early as 1684, lived in Chichester, as 
the court records show that he was ap- 
pointed constable for that township the 
following year. How early he removed 
to Birmingham and settled near the 
well known ford on the Brahdywine 
that bears his name, is not certainly 



known. He was a member of the So- 
ciety of Friends, and in ] 695 was mar- 
ried to Grace Stanfield according to the 
usages of that Society. Their children 
were Elizabeth, John, Grace, Betty, one 
other daughter, and son Francis. He 
erected a "corn mill" on his property 
in Birmingham, but its exact location 
is not now known. In society he held 
a high position, was in easy circum- 
stances, and was frequently called upon 
to transact public business. He served 
two years in the Provincial Assembly. 
He died iij, 1713 after having made his 
son John his principal heir. His widow 
not very long after his death married 
Gaiwen Stephenson. 

Chandler, Jacob, came from Eng- 
land prior to 1685, and settled in Chi- 
chester. He was a Friend, and the 
Monthly Meetings of Chichester were 
sometimes held at his place of resi- 
dence, which he called " Jacobus Well." 
Having united with the Keilhites, he 
was disowned by the Quakers. He was 
alive in 1704. 

Chandler, John, an early colonist 
and landholder of Chichester, died in 
1704, leaving no children. He does 
not appear to have been a Quaker. 

Churchman, John, came from Saffron 
Waldron, Essex county, England, in 
1682, in the seventeenth year of his 
age. In 1696 he married Hannah, 
daughter of Thomas Ceeiy of Aston, 
and settled in Chester township. In 
1704 he removed to Nottingham, 
where he died in 1724, aged 57. Three 
of bis children — George, Dinah and 
Susanna — were born in Chester town- 
ship. He had a son, John, born at 
Nottingham, who became a man of 
some note as a surveyor. They were 
all Friends. 

Clayton, William, with his family, 
arrived in the ship Kent from London, 
in company with certain commission- 
ers sent out by the proprietors of New 
Jersey, to purchase lands from the In- 
dians, &c. In 1678-9 (March) he pur- 
chased the share of Hans Oelson, one 
of the original grantees of Marcus 
Hook, and settled at that place. As a 
Quaker, he was an active and consis- 
tent member, and likewise took a part 
in political affairs. He was a member 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



453 



of Governor Markham's Council, and 
also of that of the Proprietary after his 
arrival ; while, at the same time, he 
served as one of the justices of the 
Court of Upland county, and subse- 
quently for that of Chester County; 
presiding at the first Court held in 
Pennsylvania under the Proprietary 
government. His daughter, Mary, was 
married to John Beales in 1682, and 
his son, William, to Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of John Bezer, the same year. The 
declaration of intention of this couple 
to marry in accordance with Friends' 
discipline, is the earliest on record in 
Pennsylvania; but some delay having 
occurred, by reason of the absence of 
the bride's parents, they were not the 
earliest to marry in that way. His 
daughter. Prudence, married Henry 
Reynolds, not a member of Friends' 
meeting. There is reason to believe 
that the death of the elder William 
occurred about the year 1691. 

Clayton, William, Jr., soon after his 
marriage as above, became the pur- 
chaser and occupant of a tract of about 
one hundred acres, embracing the site 
of Maylandville, now included within 
the City of Philadelphia, whereon a mill 
had been erected. This mill was doubt- 
less the same that the Upland Court, 
in 1678, ordered to be built at "the 
faal called Captn Hans moenses faals." 
[See Upland Court. Records, p. 115.] 
While residing here, the newly married 
couple became attached to Haverford 
Meeting, in the records of which, be- 
fore the close of 1686, the births of two 
children — Elizabeth and William — are 
registered. It is believed that this 
family returned to the neighborhood of 
Chichester, after the death of the elder 
William Clayton. 

Clipfe, Robeet, came from Harby, 
in the County of Leicester, in com- 
pany with Samuel Levis and William 
Garrett, and settled in Darby, (pro- 
bably in the town,) in 1684. He died 
in 1694 — ten years after his arrival. 
He, with twenty-four others, had suf- 
fered imprisonment in Leicester jail, for 
refusing to be sworn, as early as 1660. 

Clipfe, Benjamin, was probably the 
son of the above named Robert, immi- 
grated with him, and also resided in 
the town of Darby. He appears to have 



been a man willing to make himself 
generally useful. In his younger days 
be was employed in teaching a school 
supported by the Society of Friends, of 
which he was a member ; and in later 
years attended to many concerns of 
the meeting and of the neighborhood 
that fitted him. He also kept a shop 
in Darby till the time of his decease, 
in 1749. It is not known that he was 
married, and he certainly left no chil- 
dren. By industry and economy he 
had acquired means that enabled him 
to purchase " a plantation," which he 
devised to Benjamin Lobb, his sister's 
son. 

Cloud, Jeremiah, was of age when 
his father, William Cloud, immigrated 
to Pennsylvania. In 1686 he was mar- 
ried to Elizabeth Bailey. He resided 
in Concord, but his son, Jeremiah, in 
1710, removed within the limits of 
Newark Meeting, where he married 
Ann Bailey. The elder Jeremiah was 
a member of the Society of Friends at 
the time of his marriage. 

Cloud, William, from " Scene," in 
the County of Wilts, was one of the 
very earliest of the colonists who ven- 
tured as far " into the woods" as Con- 
cord to make a settlement. He brought 
his family with him, and it is probable 
that some of his children were married 
in England. He was an early member 
of Chichester Friends Meeting, and was 
a contributor towards the erection of 
the first " Chichester Meeting-house " 
So far as is known his children were 
William, Jeremiah, Joseph and Robert. 
He died in 1702. 

Cock, Otto Ernest, was an early 
Swedish inhabitant, and resided at dif- 
ferent places within the limits of what 
is now Delaware County, and at one 
time in Kingsessing, below the Blue 
Bell. In 1678 he resided at Tinicum, and 
in 1696 at Marcus Hook. Being one of 
the most intelligent of the Swedish 
settlers, his name occurs in connection 
with almost every public proceeding of 
the time in which he lived. He was 
a member of Governor Markham's 
Council, before the arrival of William 
Penn ; was a Justice of the Upland Court , 
and was also one of the Justices com- 
missioned by Governor Markham for 
Upland County, and assisted in hold- 



454 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



ing its courts until the arrival of 
William Penn, and the erection of the 
County of Chester as a separate judicial 
district. He was also sometimes em- 
ployed as an interpreter. The earliest 
occurrence of his. name, was as an arbi- 
trator, by appointment of an early Up- 
land Court, in 1673. He was alive in 
1693. 

Collet, Jeremiah, or Jeremy, was 
settled in Chichester before the arrival 
of William Penn. In 1685 he owned 
and occupied a tract of land a little 
north of Marcus Hook. In 1684 he 
served the oflBce of Sheriff for Chester 
County. In religious profession he was 
doubtless an Episcopalian, as he be- 
queathed £50 for the " better support 
of the, minister oflSciating in the 
Chapel" — now St. Martin's Church at 
Marcus Hook. He died about the year 
1725. 

Collier, Thomas, from Nottingham, 
England; settled in Darby, now Upper 
Darby township, in 1689, but had been 
in the country some time previouslj^, 
as it appears by the records of Darby 
Meeting that he was married to Hannah 
Lownes in the early part of that year. 
So far as is known, their only children 
were Isaac and Hannah. 

Coates, Mosbs, with his wife, emi- 
grated from Carlow, in Ireland, and 
settled in Haverford in 1717. His wife 
was from Munster. They were both 
Friends, but do not appear to have con- 
tinued to reside at Haverford very long. 

CoATES, Thomas, from Sprixton, in 
the County of Leicester, England, set- 
tled in Darby in 1686. He removed to 
Philadelphia, where he engaged in 
mercantile business, and died in 1719. 
He was in membership with Friends. 

Cobb, William, a very early settler 
at Amesland, where he served the office 
of constable in 1683. He subsequently 
became owner, or part owner, of the 
Swedes' mill, near the Blue Bell, and 
doubtless carried on the milling busi- 
ness there. It was from him that the 
creek which turned his mill received 
its present name of Cobb's Creek. 

CoBooRN, Thomas, with his wife 
Elizabeth, came from Cashel, in the 



kingdom of Ireland, accompanied by 
their sons William and Joseph. They 
arrived at Chester a short time before 
the first visit of William Penn to his 
Province, and settled on a large tract 
of land in Chester township, which, 
after the death of his wife in 1688, he 
conveyed to his two sons. William was 
married to Mary, daughter of Joseph 
Baker, in 1686, and Joseph to Susanna 
Churchman, in 1690. Thomas, by trade 
was a carpenter, and in religious pro- 
fession, both he, his wife, and his two 
sons, were Quakers. The old man, 
for some time after his arrival, took a 
deep interest in the affairs of his meet- 
ing. About the year 1687, he built a 
mill — the second on Chester Creek — 
which gave offence to the proprietors 
of the Chester mills. 

Cook, Richard. An early settler in 
Radnor township. He was a Friend, 
and came from the parish of Llangunlo, 
County of Radnor, Wales. 

Cooper, James, with Hannah, his 
wife, emigrated from Mayfield, County 
of Stafford, England, and settled in the 
town of Darby in 1684. He had re- 
moved from Lancaster to Mayfield ten 
years before. He was alive in 1701, 
and was a Friend. 

CoppocK, Bartholomew, Sr. From 
Cheshire, England, with his wife Mar- 
garet and family, was among the early 
immigrants. He settled in Springfield 
in 1685, and two years afterwards pur- 
chased land in Marple township, on 
Darby Creek, of John Nickerson, on 
which he subsequently resided till his 
death in 1719, when he had attained 
the age of seventy-three years. He 
had a sou Jonathan, who was deceased 
at the time of his death, a son Bartho- 
lomew, and four daughters, viz : Mar- 
garet, Rebecca, Sarah and Mai'tha. 
They were all Friends. 

CoppocK, Bartholomew, Jr., pro- 
bably a nephew of the foregoing, but 
not much his junior in years, settled 
near Springfield meeting-house, and 
the meeting that subsequently became 
Springfield Friends' Meeting was con- 
stantly held at his house until a meet- 
ing-house was erected. He probably 
immigrated with his uncle ; but his 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



455 



business capacities were superior. He 
was for many years a member of the 
Provincial Council, and frequently re- 
presented Chester County in the As- 
sembly. His wife was Eleanor, the 
sister of Daniel Williamson. His only 
children were Mary, who was married 
to Richard Woodward, Deborah, who 
was married to William West, uncle of 
the great painter, and Hannah, married 
to Robert Williamson. Bartholomew 
died in 1720, and his wife in 1727. 

CoRNELissEN, Jan, was a settler at 
Amesland as early as 1676. It was 
for his demented son that the Upland 
Court ordered a block-house to be 
built. He probably was a Dutchman, 

Crosby, Richard, came from London, 
and arrived at Chester about as early 
as the first visit of the Proprietary. He 
bad purchased land before he left Eng- 
land, part of which he located in Mid- 
dletown township. After residing for 
some time at or near Chester he re- 
moved to the Middletown land, where 
he was residing when he purchased 
land in Ridley. He was not a Quaker, 
and on that account much less is known 
of him. He probably belonged to the 
national church. He was a man of 
some business qualifications, and ap- 
peared to increase his estate. 

The Crosbys are descendants of Sir 
John Crosby of London, a member of 
Parliament, alderman, and sheriff of 
that city in 1471, who was knighted by 
Edward IV, and who was one of the 
wealthiest men of his day. The Eng- 
lish branch of the family is nearly or 
quite extinct. That of America is 
numerous, and embraces many persons 
of highly respectable standing. 

Crosby, John, son of the above 
Richard, was a man of ability, and ex- 
hibited considerable energy in business 
affairs. He was a Justice of the Court, 
and one year represented Chester 
County in the Provincial Assembly. 
He resided in Ridley, and at the time 
of his decease in 1750, was half owner 
of & forge, which he devised to his son 
Richard. This is doubtless the forge 
mentioned by Peter Kalm, the Swedish 
naturalist, and noticed in the general 
narrative of this work. 

Ckoxton, Randal, from Chormely. 



County Palatine of Chester, England, 
fixed his residence in Upper Provi- 
dence. He was an early settler, but it 
does not appear that he was one of the 
earliest. He was married in 1701, "ac- 
cording to the good order of Friends," 
to Sarah, daughter of William and Ann 
Garrett of Darby (now Upper Darby). 
Their children were John, Thomas, 
Randal, Samuel, and Jonathan. He 
was living in Upper Providence as late 
as 17.34. 

Darlington, Abraham, the son of 
Job and Mary Darlington of Darnhall^ 
a small township in Cheshire, England, 
with his brother John, both very young, 
emigrated to America in the early part 
of last century. Their uncle, John 
Neild, had previously emigrated and 
settled in Aston township, and it is 
supposed that it was upon his invita- 
tion that the two young Darlingtons 
came to this country. This gentleman 
having recently married the widow of 
John Dutton, a large landholder of 
Aston, was in comfortable circum- 
stances, and it may reasonably be sup- 
posed that the two youths, for a time, 
made their home with him. John, 
however, soon removed to Maryland, 
but Abraham continued to reside in 
Aston, or possibly he may have re- 
moved to Chester, and for a short time 
carried on the business of a saddler in 
that town, having served an appren- 
ticeship to that trade before he left 
England. In 1712 Abraham was mar- 
ried to Deborah, the daughter of 
Joseph Carter, who did not long sur- 
vive her maiTiage, for in 1716 we find 
him contracting a second marriage 
with Elizabeth, the daughter of Tho- 
mas and Elizabeth Hillborn of Bucks 
County. He soon became a landowner 
in Aston, and continued to reside there 
till 1723, when he removed to Birming- 
ham, where he had purchased a farm 
on the Brandywine, iDeyond the limits 
of Delaware County. 

Though a Quaker by convincement, 
he never became a very active member 
in the business affairs of the Society. 
In 1722 he was appointed one of three 
^'■Appraisers for the County of Chester," 
whose duty it was to set a value on all 
property taken in execution ; and in 
1724, in pursuance of a then recent act 
of Assembly, he received the appoint- 
ment of " Searcher and Sealer of Leather." 



456 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Besides the execution of these offices, 
and the management of a large farm, 
he devoted a considerable portion of 
his time to the practice of the healing 
art, in which tradition has given him 
the reputation of considerable skill, 
though he had received no regular 
medical instruction. His death oc- 
curred in 1776, at an advanced age. 

It is not known that Abraham Darl- 
ington had any child by his first wife. 
By his second he had ten children, viz : 
Mary, Deborah, Elizabeth, Abraham, 
Thomas, John, Hannah, Rachel, Job 
and Rebecca. In 1853, when a general 
assemblj'' of the " Clan Darlingto-nJ' was 
held, the known descendants of the 
immigrant Abraham numbered 1500. 
This number, it is believed, includes 
all who bear the name of Darlington 
in this country. 

Davies, Mirick, an early Welsh set- 
tler of Radnor, was in religion an Epis- 
copalian. His name appears in the 
earliest records of St. David's Church. 
His son James, by his wife Mary, was 
born in 1720. He at one time lived in 
the Upper part of Haverford, near 
Darby creek. 

David, Lewis, from Llandewy^ in the 
county of Pembroke, Wales, was a 
large purchaser of lands before leaving 
his native country, a considerable por- 
tion of which was located in Haverford, 
by some of the earliest of the Welsh set- 
tlers, who had become purchasers under 
him before leaving their native country. 
He did not emigrate till about the year 
1690, when he settled in Haverford. 
He died in 1708, leaving a son named 
James Lewis and one or more children 
in Wales. It does not appear that he 
was the father of the next following. He 
was a Friend,, and according to I3esse, 
suffered considerable persecution in his 
native country on account of his reli- 
gion. 

David, William, was one of the early 
Welsh colonists who settled in Radnor. 
He had land surveyed to him in that 
township in 1685. In 1691, he was 
was married to Gwenlin Philips, of the 
same township, according to " the good 
order" of the Society of Friends, They 
had one son, William. He was at one 
time owner of the mill now owned by 
Tryon Lewis. 



Dicks, or Dix, Peter, with his wife 
Esther, emigrated from England to 
Pennsylvania and settled in Birming- 
ham about the year 1686. He was a 
member of the Society of Friends, and 
appears to have been in rather easy 
circumstances. He died in 1704, leav- 
ing seven children, viz. : Peter, Nathan, 
Hannah, Elizabeth, Sarah, Esther and 
Deborah. Hannah intermarried with 
Jonathan, the son of Richard Thatcher; 
Elizabeth with Richard Tranter, and 
Sarali with Joseph Pyle. Peter, the 
son, " was married by a priest," but 
still retained his membership with 
Friends, and in 1717 removed to Nether 
Providence. The widow, Esther, in 
1708 intermarried with Benjamin Men- 
denhall, then a widower. The fact that 
the younger Peter visited Cheshire, 
England, "to settle some affairs," ren- 
ders it very probable that the elder 
Peter emigrated from that place. 

Drewett, Morgan, (Mariner) with 
his wife Cassandra, came from London, 
and arrived at Burlington in 1677 in 
the ship Kent^ in company with the 
West Jersey Commissioners, who were 
sent out to purchase lands from the 
natives, &c. Early in the next year he 
purchased land in Marcus Hook, where 
he resided till after the establishment 
of Penn's government in 1681, and 
perhaps a little later. He subsequently 
purchased a large tract of land on the 
river, just above " Boute Creek," which 
had been established ns the boundary 
between Chester and Newcastle Coun- 
ties, where he resided in 1684, and where 
meetings were held at his house after 
the establishment of the circular line 
placed his property in Newcastle 
County. He served as a juror at the 
first Court held under the Proprietary 
government. He was strict in the per- 
formance of his duty as a member of 
the religious Society of Friends until 
his death, which occured in 1695, at 
the age of 66 years. His children 
were, Joseph, Benjamin, (born at sea, 
1677,) Mary and Sarah. 

DuRBOROW, Hugh, was probably born 
in Somersetshire, England, about the 
year 1660. While young, he united 
himself with the Quakers, and was per- 
secuted for attending their meetings, 
as was usual in England at that time. 
He emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1684, 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



457 



and after some time settled in Thorn- 
bury township ; his certificate of mem- 
bership with Friends being from Ilces- 
ter. In 1686 he married Elizabeth, 
the sister or niece of John Taylor, then 
residing on Tinicum, and who had 
probably immigrated with him. For 
a time Hugh joined with the Kieth- 
ites, but soon returned to the true 
faith and became a minister of some 
note. His wife Elizabeth was also an 
approved minister in the Society. 
About the year 1693, they removed to 
Philadelphia, where he died in 1740, 
aged about 80 years. Elizabeth died 
in 1722, aged 62 years. Hugh was 
imprisoned in England for attending a 
Quaker meeting. Besse spells his name 
Dulboroiu. They had eight children, 
viz. : John, Daniel, Hannah, Elizabeth, 
Isaac, Joseph, Mary and Jacob. 

DuTTON, John, with his wife Mary, 
arrived here fr'om England with the 
Proprietary, when he made his first 
visit, or shortly afterwards. They set- 
tled in Aston. John did not live many 
years in the enjoyment of his new 
home. Besides a daughter, Elizabeth, 
who died about the time of their arri- 
val, they had two sons ; John, who in- 
termarried with Elizabeth Kinsman, and 
Thomas, who intermarried with Lucy 
Barnard. John and his wife were both 
Friends, but after his death his widow 
married John Nield, " who was not in 
profession of the truth." John Button 
probably came from Worcestershire. 

Edwards, William, an early settler 
of Middletown, with his son John and 
other children emigrated, as is believed 
by some of his descendants, from Gla- 
morganshire in Wales. It is supposed 
he was a widower at the time of his 
arrival. Be that as it may, in 1688 
he was married to Jane Atkinson, a 
native of Yorkshire, according to the 
usages of the Society of Friends, of 
which they were both members. Wil- 
liam Edwards died in 1716. The names 
of his children are not all known. His 
eldest son and heir, John, in 1699 
married Mary Ingram of Burlington, 
N. J., and occupied the original cabin 
of his father after his decease. In 
1717, a daughter, Sarah, by the second 
wife, was married to Joseph Pratt. 
From this marriage it is believed the 
Pratt family descended. John Edwards 



died in 1749 at a very advanced age, 
leaving nine children, viz., John, Mary, 
Elizabeth, Nathan, Hannah, Moses, 
Phebe, Joseph and Amos. His wife 
was living at the time of his decease. 

Edwards, Joseph, son of Issachar and 
Rebecca Edwards, was born in Middle- 
town township, August 20th, 1796, and 
continued to reside with his parents till 
1810, when he was placed in the count- 
ing-house of his uncle, Joel West, then 
residing in Baltimore. In 1812, he re- 
turned to his father, and the next year 
he was apprenticed to the wheelwright 
business. After learning his trade, he 
at first established himself in Edgmont 
township, and subsequently near the 
Buck tavern in Marple. In 1825 he 
removed to Camden, N. J., and com- 
menced the distillation of turpentine 
as a business. In 1831, he relinquish- 
ed the turpentine business on account 
of ill-health, when he again returned 
to the homestead in Delaware County. 
Here his health soon improved, when 
he commenced business in Philadel- 
phia, which he continued till the close 
of 1834. In 1836, he purchased part 
of the original Edwards' land in Mid- 
dletown, on which he built a neat 
dwelling. Here he resided till the 
close of his life. A short time before 
his death, which happened in July, 
1858, he fractured one of his limbs. 
Great debility ensued, which soon 
after resulted in death. The mental 
endowments of Joseph Edwards were 
of no common order. He was possess- 
ed of a memory unusually retentive, 
and to use his own language, " with a 
mind active to a degree which admit- 
ted of no relaxation, assisted by a 
very slender education." But he had 
greatly increased his knowledge by 
a course of general reading and 
study, especially the study of history. 
In 1844, he became a member of the 
Delaware County Institute of Science, 
and the next year was appointed to 
make regular meteorological observa- 
tions. A very condensed summary of 
these observations will be found in an- 
other place in this volume. Monthly 
reports of his observations were made 
to the Smithsonian Institution, and re- 
ceived high commendations for their 
accuracy. In 1855, he was appointed 
by the Institute to write a History of 
Delaware County, in which work he 



458 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



was eng-affed up to near the time of his 
death. Mr. Edwards sometimes in- 
dulged his humor in writinff poetry. 
One of liis pieces, written a sliort time 
before his death, termed '• The Voyage of 
Life," closes with'the follo-\ving lines : 

" My voyage, with all its witchery, 
Its joys, its hopes, its woes, 
Has tilled its line of destiuy, 
And verges lo a close." 

Ellis, Thomas, was one of the most 
eminent of the Welsh settlers. He 
came from Pembrokeshire, and arrived 
here in 1683 with his second wife 
Ellen and family, and settled on one 
of two large tracts of land which he 
purchased and located in Haverford. 
His certificate, which is from the 
monthly meeting of Redstone, speaks 
of him as a man '' of a tender spirit, 
often broken before the Lord, with 
the sense of the power of an endless 
being upon him." It also informs us, 
that " his testimony for the Lord, and 
his Trueth hath been very weighty, to 
the reaching of the consciences of 
mauy," and that he had " an excellent 
gift in opening deepe divine Mistcryes." 
His imprisonments " had been many 
and diflicult w"' spoyling of goods on 
truth's accompt." Having escaped 
from a land of bitter persecution, his 
feelings prompted him, immediately 
after his arrival here, to compose •• in 
British language" the following " Song 
of Rejoyceiug," which " was turned into 
English by his ifriend John Hum- 
phrey:" 

" Pennsylvania an habitation, 
With certain, sure and clear foundation ; 
Where the dawniug of the day, 
Expels the thick, dark night away. 

Lord, give us here a place to feed, 
And pass my life among thy seed. 
That in our bounds, true love and peace, 
From age to age may never cease. 

Then shall the trees and fields increase, 
Heaven and Earth proclaim tliy peace, 
That we and they — forever Lord, 
Shew forth thy praise, with one accord." 

Though a resident of Haverford, 
Thomas Ellis spent much of his time 
in Philadelphia, where he held public 
trusts under the government. He also 
travelled in the ministry. At the time 
of his death, which happened in 1638, 
he held the office of Register General 
of Pennsylvania, with David Lloyd as 
his deputy. His wife died in 1692. 

By his second wife he had but one 



child, Rachel, who intermarried with 
Robert Wharton, in IVOI. By a former 
nuirriage, he had one son, Ellis, and a 
daughter, Eleanor, who intermarried 
with Pavid Lawrence. He was interred 
at Friends' burying ground, Haverford. 

Edge, John, with his wife Jane and 
family, emigrated from St. Andrews, 
Holborne, in the County of Middlesex, 
England, and settled in Nether Provi- 
dence about the year 1685. He was 
an earnest member of the Society of 
Friends, and the monthly meeting was 
sometimes held at his house. His 
children were, Mary, intermarried with 
James Sharpless ; Abigail, with Edward 
Woodward; Jacob, with Sarah Jones 
of Merion, and John, with Mary Smed- 
ley of Westown. John Edge the elder, 
died in 1711, aged sixty-five years. 
He had been subjected to heavy fines 
and imprisonment in his native country, 
for refusing to act contrary to his con- 
scientious scruples, and on one occa- 
sion, was subjected to a public trial. 

Ellis, Ellis, emigrated with his 
fiither, Thomas Ellis, in 1683, from 
Redstone in Pembrokeshire, Wales, 
and settled on part of the large pur- 
chase made by his father in Haverford 
township. In 1GS5 he was married to 
Lydia the daughter of Elizabeth Hum- 
phrey, who had also emigrated ia 1 683, 
but she with her family came from 
Merionethshire. He was a Friend and 
a good citizen. His children were, 
Rachel, Thomas, Elizabeth, Bridget, 
John, Joseph, Evan, William, Benja- 
min and Rebecca. He died in 1706, his 
wife surviving him. 

Ellis, Humphrey, was one of the 
earliest of the Welsh Friends who emi- 
grated to Pennsylvania. He was mar- 
ried to Gwen Rees early in 1684, their 
declaration of intention, having been 
made at the first (Haveribrd) Monthly 
Meeting of which tliere is any record. 
Gwen died early in 1686, leaving two 
children, Thomas and Lydia, (twins.") 
On the 19th of January, 1687, Hum- 
phrey married Jane David of Haver- 
ford, in which township he then resided. 
By his second marriage his children 
were Margaret, Jane, Rachel, Ellin, 
Humphrey, Sublinus and Jeremiah. 
His death occurred in 1741, — that of 
his wife, in 1745. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



459 



Evan, John ap, (John Evan,) from 
Trererigg, Glamorganshire, Wales, emi- 
grated with his family to Pennsylva- 
nia, and settled in P>,adnor township in 
1684. He was in membership with 
Friends, and meetings were held at his 
dwelling as early as 1686. David 
Evans married his daughter Mary 
Jones as his second wife. Another 
John Evan from the parish of Nantmel 
in Radnorshire, Wales, also settled in 
Radnor township very early, and it is 
difficult to distinguish between the 
subsequent transactions of the two. 

Evan, Thomas John, migrated from 
the neighborhood of Dolobran, Mont- 
gomeryshire, Wales, in 1683, and was 
among the earliest of the Welsh Friends 
who settled in Radnor township. In 
1686 he married Lowery Johnes, of 
Merion, by whom he had four children, 
which, after a prevailing custom, were 
named as follows, viz : John Thomas, 
Rowland Thomas, Joseph Jones and 
Elizabeth Jones. He was himself 
frequently known as Thomas Jones. 
He died in 1707. 

EvA\, David, the son of Evan, ap 
William Powell, '' with his wife Gainer 
and their younger children," came to 
America about the year 1684, and set- 
tled in Radnor. They were from 
Glamorganshire, South Wales. His 
wife could not have lived long after 
their arrival, as " David Evan, widoiver," 
was married to " Marv Jones, Spinster," 
in 1690. He died in 1710. His chil- 
dren were, Caleb, Joshua, Evan, David 
and Philip. They were all members 
of the Society of Friends. 

Evan, Philip, brother of the above 
named, David Evan, came from the 
same place and at the same time, but 
was unmarried. He was married to 
Sarah Thomas of Merion, at a Friend's 
meeting, held at the house of Hugh 
Roberts, in 1690. 

Evans, John, was born in Radnor 
township, Delaware County, on the 
13th of the 2d month, 1790, and died 
on the 15th of April, 1862. He was 
the son of David and Adah Evans. On 
the side of his father his ancestors 
were thoroughly Welsh, while on that 
of his mother they were partly so. His 
mother died in 1800, and his father six 



years later. His early education was 
wa^ limited, though he received rather 
more than was usual at that time in 
the neighborhood. Though there was 
a mill on the patrimonial estate, he 
preferred going to a larger establish- 
ment to learn the business of milling, 
which he had selected for an occupa- 
tion in after life. After he had learned 
the trade thoroughly he was employed 
as manager of a large flour mill, then 
(1812) recently erected on the Hudson 
river, near the present city of Troy. 
Here he remained three years much to 
the satisfaction of his employers. 

With the exception of the town of 
Troy, then a mere hamlet, the country 
surrounding the mill was nearly in a 
state of nature, and, as is well known, 
was highly romantic. Being almost 
shut out from social intercourse, our 
young miller, after having attended 
closely to his business on week days, 
spent much of his time on Sundays, in 
rambling over the wild and romantic 
country that surrounded his mill — in 
traversing its streams, and in scaling 
its precipices. It was in this state of 
isolation from civilized society chat the 
habits and tastes of John Evans under- 
went a change. It was in these soli- 
tary rambles that he laid the foundation 
of his character in after life. Here he 
became a devoted lover of nature, ac- 
quired the habits of close observation, 
and fitted himself for the successful 
study of the natural sciences. 

After his return from Troy he re- 
sumed the milling business at the 
homestead mill, and in 1819 married 
Ann, the daughter of Benjamin Brown 
of Radnor, by whom he had six chil- 
dren. He subsequently engaged in the 
business of sawing lumber for the Phi- 
ladelphia market, which he continued 
till near the close of his life. 

Up to about the year 1827 or '28, 
though industrious in the acquisition 
of knowledge, John Evans had not 
shown a great preference for any parti- 
cular branch of science. About this 
time he received a visit from his kins- 
man, Alan W. Corson, of Plymouth, 
Montgomery county, who was on his 
return home, with his daughter, from 
Westown boarding-school. The visitors 
remained over night, and had with 
them a copy of Dr. Darlington's Flor- 
ula CestrirM, then lately published, and 
used in Westown school. This was the 



460 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



first knowledge John Evans had of any 
work descriptive of our local flora. He 
had then some little practical acquaint- 
ance with plants and their culture, but 
it was the opportune visit of his relative, 
Corson, and this early publication of Dr. 
Darlington, that first opened the way for 
him to enter upon the study of botany 
systematically. From this time, until 
the close of his earthly career the study 
of that science and the cultivation 
of plants, especially of hardy ones, 
have been with him a primary occu- 
pation. 

The tastes of his visiting kinsman 
were congenial with his own. They 
often visited each other, and frequently 
made botanical excursions together. 
What one had acquired was freely com- 
municated to the other, till they both 
became familiar with all the plants in 
the neighborhood, with, perhaps, the 
exception of some of the most incon- 
spicuous. The culture of rare plants 
around his dwelling commenced and 
progressed with his study of botany. 
Annual, or more frequent visits, were 
at first paid to the old Bartram botanic 
garden — then in the possession of 
Colonel Carr — and to other gardens in 
the vicinity of Philadelphia. The sup- 
ply from this source was soon exhaust- 
ed, when he turned his attention to 
Europe, entered into a correspondence 
with Sir William J. Hooker, Director 
of the Gardens of Kew, near London, 
and by forwarding to that learned bo- 
tanist, annually, for many years, seeds 
and specimens of American plants, 
frequently obtained by long journeys 
and much labor, he received in return, 
new and often very rare plants from 
various parts of the world, scarcely 
obtainable from any other source by 
purchase. During part of the period 
occupied by this correspondence. Dr. 
Hooker, the son of Sir William J. 
Hooker, made a botanical tour to the 
Himalaya mountains, in Asia. Seeds 
from that almost unexplored region, 
many of them produced by unnamed 
plants, were forwarded to John Evans. 
It will be remembered by his botanical 
visitors at that time, the great amount 
of labor and care bestowed by him in 
the propagation of plants from these 
seeds. Besides Professor Hooker, he, 
for a time, had a correspondent in 
Germany. He also had a number of 
correspondents in different parts of the 



United States, but most of his rare 
American plants were collected by him- 
self during his frequent botanical 
tours. These tours were generally 
made to mountainous regions. 

The premises of John Evans afforded 
no suitable grounds for an extensive 
garden, specially designed for show and. 
ornament, and yet it is doubtful whe- 
ther another spot of the same extent 
can be found so well adapted to the 
culture and growth of a great variety 
of plants. Thei-e is a place on these 
grounds for plants of every habit, and 
every plant is found in the best place 
for its propagation and growth. On 
the densely wooded hillside, north of 
the dwelling, we find magnificent Rho- 
dodendrons^ and other mountain shrub- 
bery and herbaceous plants, natives of 
the Him.alayas, the Rocky Mountains, 
the Adriondacks, the Catskills and the 
Alleghanies, growing side by side, and 
mingling their gaudy colors and rich 
perfumes in deep-shaded seclusion, 
moistened by the spray from the adja- 
cent cascade of the mill-pond. Below, 
upon a flat on the opposite side of the 
creek; is an arenaceous alluvial deposit. 
Here we find the well known " Sand 
Garden " of the late proprietor, and 
clustered within it almost countless 
species from New Jersey, and many 
strangers from similar soil in more re- 
mote regions. The arid rocky hills are 
covered with pines, and other Coniferce, 
of the rarest species. The damp ravine 
has its miniature cane-brake ; the arti- 
ficial pond, its odoriferous NymphxRO^ 
and other aquatics. Every border is 
crowded with its appropriate specimen 
of rare and curious productions of the 
vegetable kingdom, brought together 
from remote parts of the earth Every 
nook and corner has a fitting tenant, 
whose right of occupancy no horticul- 
turalist would dare to question. In his 
planting, John Evans observed no order 
but the order of nature. A large pro- 
portion of the labor required for the 
care and cultivation of this vast collec- 
tion of plants, was performed by the 
hands of their late owner. But time 
and labor were economized in every 
possible way consistent with proper 
culture. The saw-dust from his mill, 
was used extensively around the grow- 
ing plants to smother out weeds. This 
soon decayed into a rich vegetable 
mould that promoted the growth of the 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



461 



plant, and soon enabled it to take care 
of itself. 

The extent of the " Evans collection " 
is not exactly known. Though urged, 
while in health, by more than one of 
his friends, to make out a complete ca- 
talogue of his plants, he postponed the 
task till declining health rendered it an 
impossibility. In the number of dis- 
tinct species of trees and shrubbery, 
this collection may, without doubt, be 
set down as the largest in this country, 
while in herbaceous plants it has very 
few equals. To many of the rare trees 
and shrubs, appropriate leaden labels 
have been appended by their late 
owner, but this is not the case with a 
vast number of the herbaceous plants. 
With John Bartram and Humphrey 
Marshall, John Evans completes a trio 
of self-taught American botanists, all 
born within the limits of old Chester 
county, and the first and last within 
the bounds of the present county of 
Delaware. They were men of like 
tastes, and were alike in their indus- 
trious and frugal habits. They were 
all men of the strictest integrity and 
highest moral worth, and especially 
were they alike as devoted students of 
the vegetable kingdom. Each reared 
his own monument in the large collec- 
tion of growing plants he left behind 
him. 

John Evans lived in an age when bo- 
tanical knowledge was more readily 
acquired, and rare specimens of plants 
more easily collected than in the times 
of his predecessors. Hence, the vastly 
greater extent of his collection, while 
it is so highly creditable to him, is no 
disparagement to them. But his atten- 
tion was not like theirs, confined to 
plants alone. He had acquired a good 
knowledge of Mineralogy, Geology and 
Zoology. On the 2'7th day of Decem- 
ber, 1834, John Evans became a mem- 
ber of the Delaware County Institute, 
and it is probable that the study of 
these sciences commenced about that 
period. 

John Evans was eminently a think- 
ing man. His opinions were fully 
formed on every subject presented to 
his mind, and no one who knew him, 
however different his own sentiments 
might be, could, for a moment, enter- 
tain a doubt, that these opinions were 
honestly eutertained. 

He was liberal, almost to a fault, in 



the distribution of plants among such 
of his friends, as he believed would 
properly care for them. All who held 
that relation to him, can be in no want 
of numerous floral mementoes around 
their dwellings, of this profuse libe- 
rality. 

More than a year past, exposure in 
his garden, developed the consuming- 
disease, which ended his days on earth. 
His sufferings were not great, a favor 
for which he expressed his thankful- 
ness. He fully understood the nature 
of his malady and the certainty of the 
result. For months he had predicted 
that he would not live many days be- 
yond the first of April ; and as the fatal 
period approached, he more clearly felt 
that his prediction would be realized. 
He retained his senses unimpaired to 
the last, and after having given specific 
directions for the preservation of his 
favorite trees and shrubbery against 
damage from the horses of those who 
might attend his funeral, he firmly met 
his fate, and quietly passed from time 
to eternity. 

On the Sunday following his decease, 
being the 7th of April, his remains 
were interred in the family cemetery, 
under evergreen trees planted by him- 
self, and surrounded by choice shrub- 
bery and flowers that had been culti- 
vated with his own hands. Besides 
his neighbors who flocked around his 
grave, there were those present from a 
distance, who had known him long and 
well — who were familiar with his many 
virtues. They were there to pay a last 
homage to his sterling integrity and 
great moral worth. 

[The foregoing notice of John Evans 
is chiefly extracted from a paper read 
before the Delaware County Institute 
of Science, by the author, May 3d, 
1862.] 

Evan, Stephen, yeoman, with his 
wife, Elizabeth, and two children, John 
and Phebe, came from the parish of 
Llanbister, county of Radnor, Wales, in 
1683, and settled in Radnor township, 
in that or the following year. They 
had several children born in this coun- 
try; one named ^^ Stephen Stephms," 
another •' Evan Stephe7is," which naming 
was in accordance with the custom of 
many Welsh families at that time. He 
was a Friend, and, at the time of his 
emigration, had '= owned the truth for 



462 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



twenty years." He was one of the very 
earliest settlers of Radnor. His daugh- 
ter, Sarah, born 5th mo. 25th, 1686, 
was the first female child born of Eu- 
ropean parents in that township. His 
wife died in 1697. The time of his de- 
cease is unknown, though he lived to an 
advanced age. 

Eyre, Robert, was born in England 
January 30th, 1648, 0. S., the same 
day upon which King Charles I. was 
executed. He served his apprentice- 
ship with William Rogers, a merchant 
of Bristow, a town of some note at that 
day, on the borders of Somerset and 
Gloucestershire. Here he acquired a 
ready use of the pen that fitted him for 
the duties he was subsequently called 
on to discharge. After the expiration 
of his apprenticeship he, for some time, 
followed the seas as a supercargo, but 
eventually migrated to Pennsylvania, 
where he married Ann, the daughter of 
Francis Smith, a gentleman of educa- 
tion and wealth, whose residence was 
Devizes, in the county of Wilts, and 
who was one of the original pur- 
chasers of land in England On the 
authority of family tradition, Robert 
Eyre first settled in Jersey. Part of the 
land purchased by Francis Smith was 
located in Bethel township, and was 
conveyed at an early date to Robert 
Eyre and his wife. This, doubtless, 
caused Robert to change his place of 
residence. In 1683 he was appointed 
Clerk of the Courts of Chester County, 
which office he held till 1690. His 
children were Robert, Ann, Jane, Wil- 
liam and Francis. Robert Eyre, the 
elder, was not a Quaker, but some of 
his descendants united themselves with 
that society. The. time of his death is 
not exactly known, but he was alive in 
1697. His son, William, who inter- 
married with Mary, the daughter of 
Lewis David, of Haverford, occupied 
the patrimonial estate in Bethel in 1722. 

Francis Smith, the father-in-law of 
Robert Byre, settled in Kennet, and, it 
is said, named the township after the 
place in which he was born. 

Fairman, Thomas, with his wife 
Elizabeth, was one of the earliest of 
the Quaker settlers on the Delaware 
He was a member of Governor Mark- 
ham's Council, and was also a Justice 
of Upland Court before the arrival of 



William Penn. He lived at Shacka- 
maxon in 1681, when meetings were 
held at his house. Thomas died in 1 7 14, 
and his wife in 1720. 

Faucet, Walter, with his wife 
Grace, arrived at Chester as early as 
1684, and settled on the northeast side 
of Ridley Creek, near where the main 
road leading south then crossed that 
stream, his land extending to Crum 
Creek. He was a man of great indus- 
try and energy of character, for while 
he attended strictly to his religious 
duties as a preacher and member of the 
Society of Friends, he was equally dili- 
gent in the service of the community 
as a good citizen. In 1685 he was ap- 
pointed one of the Peace Makers for 
Chester County — then an office of con- 
siderable responsibility, and also serv- 
ed one year as a member of the 
Assembly. For many years Chester 
Monthly Meeting was held at his house, 
notwithstanding it was kept as a house 
of entertainment, or tavern, at least 
during part of the time. His wife 
Grace having died in 1686, he was 
married to Rebecca Fearne, of Darby, in 
1694. He died in 1704, leaving two 
sons — John (who married Grace Crook) 
and Nathan, by his first wife ; and 
three daughters, Rebecca, Mary and 
Sarah, by his second wife, to survive 
him. Walter Faucet was one of the 
signers of the testimony against George 
Keith. In 1698 he paid a religious visit 
to England. 

Fearne, Elizabeth, (widow,) with 
her son Joshua, and daughters Eliza- 
beth, Sarah and Rebecca, emigrated 
from " Darby," in the County of " Dar- 
by," England, in 1682. They were all 
Friends, and her husband, who is not 
named in the certificate, had suffered 
imprisonment in England on account 
of his religion. She was a woman of 
excellent character, but was not very 
active in meeting affairs. In 1684 her 
daughter Elizabeth was married to 
John Kay, and her daughter Sarah to 
Thomas Sharp, both of Newtown, N. J. 
Her younger daughter, Rebecca, mar- 
ried Walter Faucet, of Ridley, and after 
his death, John Wood, of Darby. 

Fearne, Joshua, who had resided in 
Ashoner, Derbyshire, England, immi- 
grated with his mother Elizabeth, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



463 



sisters, Elizabeth and Sarah, and settled 
in Darby township in 1682. His father, 
in his day, had borne " a good testi- 
mony against ye false prophets, by 
suffering imprisonment for tythes," and 
it may be truthfully said, that the re- 
maining members of the family, in 
their new home, maintained with con- 
sistency and propriety the doctrines 
and practices for which he had been a 
sufferer. Joshua Fearne was married to 
Abigail Bats, of Newtown, in West 
Jersey, in 1687, a,nd died in 1693, leav- 
ing two children, Joshua and Mary, to 
survive him. He was a man of ability, 
and during the short period his life 
was spared, after his arrival in Penn- 
sylvania, his time was much occupied 
in public employments. He was Sheriff 
of the County, Clerk and also Justice 
of the Court, and upon two occasions 
was elected a member of the Provincial 
Assembly. He was one of those select- 
ed to testify against George Keith. 
Abigail died more than two years be- 
fore her husband. 

Fearne, Josiah, was a younger son 
of the immigrant Elizabeth Fearne, but 
he did not arrive in this country till 
some years after the elder members of 
the family. In llOO he was married 
to Sarah, the daughter of John Blun- 
ston. Letitia Penn, the daughter of 
the Proprietary, was present at the 
marriage, and signed the certificate. 
Their children were Elizabeth, Sarah, 
Martha, Joseph, Mary, Rebecca and 
Josiah. They were all strictly in unity 
with Friends. 



Few, Richard, came from Levington, 
in the County of Wilts, England, and 
settled in the Upper part of Chester 
township before the first arrival of the 
Proprietary in 1682. He was advanced 
in years at the time of his arrival. In 
religion he was a Friend, and by trade 
a shoemaker. His son Isaac was mar- 
ried to Hannah Stanfield, of Marple, in 
1697. Richard Few died in 1688. He 
was a purchaser of land in England in 
conjunction with his son Richard, who 
is not known to have migrated to this 
country. Isaac removed to the neigh- 
borhood of Kennet. His children were 
Richard, Isaac, James, Elizabeth, Dan- 
iel, Joseph, William, Francis and 
Samuel. 



FisHBOURN, Ralph, a resident of Tal- 
bot County, Maryland, was married ac- 
cording to the usages of the Society of 
Friends, to Elizabeth, daughter of John 
Simcock, of Ridley, in 1692. After the 
death of his father-in-law, in 1703, 
Ralph removed to Chester, where he 
appears to have entered into business 
as an importing merchant. He died 
in 1708, and Elizabeth the year follow- 
ing, without children. He was a man 
of considerable wealth for the time in 
which he lived, for in his will he speaks 
of having given his son William, by a 
former wife, " two plantations and two 
negroes valued at 400 pounds sterling." 
This William was a citizen of Chester in 
1722. Ralph Fishbourn was for some- 
time one of the Justices of Chester 
Court. 

Flower, William, settled in or ad- 
joining Marcus Hook as early as 1692, 
and probably not much earlier. He 
was then in membership with Friends, 
and was that year married to Elizabeth 
Morris, a member of Concord Meeting. 
He died in 1717, leaving a widow 
named Sarah, which shows that he had 
been married a second time. He had 
a son Enoch, and a daughter Mary, who 
intermarried with John Flower, to the 
latter of whom he devised all his real 
estate. Enoch Flower, the noted early 
schoolmaster of Philadelphia,came from 
a place in England called Brinkworte. 
William and John wei'e doubtless re- 
latives of Enoch, and probably came 
from the same neighborhood. John 
Flower, who resided in Chichester till 
the time of his decease in 1738, left six 
children, viz., Richard, John, Thomas, 
William, Mary and Margaret. The 
Flower family of Delaware County, and 
many others, are descendants from John 
and Mary Flower. 

Fox, Thomas, from Sulton, on the 
Trent, County of Nottingham, England, 
settled in Darby in 1684. Died in 
1699, having devised his plantation in 
Darby to his nephew, William Cook. 
It is not certain that he was a Friend. 

Fred, John, and family, emigrated 
from the neighborhood of Carlow, Ire- 
land, about the year 1712, and settled 
in Birmingham, on the Brandywine. 
They were in membership with Friends. 
He had two sons, Benjamin and Nicho- 



464 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



las. The former removed to New- 
garden, but the latter, after having 
married Ann, the daughter of Joseph 
Need, of Darby, became a large pro- 
perty holder, and resided on the Brandy- 
wine, above Chadd's Ford. 

Gabitas, William, one of the mill- 
wrights of our early colonists, came 
from East Markham in the County of 
Nottingham, England, and settled in 
or near the town of Darby in 1685. 
He was accompanied by his wife Abi- 
gail. Their children were Jeremiah, 
Elizabeth, Rebecca, Deborah, and per- 
haps others. They were Friends, and 
William had experienced a small share 
of persecution in his native country on 
account of his religion. He removed 
to Philadelphia where his wife and 
son Jeremiah died in 1691. 

Gareett, William, (webster,) with 
his wife Ann and several children, came 
from Leicestershire, England, in 1684, 
in company with Samuel Levis, John 
Smith, and Robert Cliffe, who brought 
with them a joint certificate which 
they presented to a meeting of Friends 
held at " the Governor's house" in 
Philadelphia the 4th of the 9th month 
(November) 1684. Immediately before 
leaving England, he, jointly with Sam- 
uel Levis, had purchased 1000 acres of 
land, and they were prepared to locate 
it immediately on their arrival. Early 
in 1685 William located his share in 
Darby, now Upper Darby, where he 
came to reside. Both William and his 
wife were consistent members of the 
Society of Friends, and were much 
confided in by the meeting. Their 
children were Mary, Samuel, Alice, 
Sarah, Thomas, William and John; 
' all of whom were born in England ex- 
cept the last, who died young. Mary 
intermarried with Abel Noble, Samuel 
with Jane, the daughter of Robert 
Pennell of Middletown, Alice with Jo- 
seph, a son of Robert Pennell, Sarah 
with Randal Croxton of Providence, 
Thomas with Rebecca Vernon of the 
same township, and William with Mary 
Smith of Darby. The elder William 
Garrett was alive in 1703. Ann, the 
wife of William Garrett, lived till 1722, 
when she died, in Philadelphia. 

Gibbons, John, and his wife Margery 
were among the early Quaker emigrants 



to Pennsylvania from England, and had 
settled in Bethel as early as 1684. 
They came from Warminster in the 
County of Wilts. Owing to some 
theological notions promulgated by 
Margery, she was disowned by Friends, 
and John appears to have lost his in- 
terest in the society. They had two 
sons, John who married Sarah Howard 
of Philadelphia, and James who mar- 
ried Ann, the daughter of George 
Pearce of Thornbury. John died be- 
fore his father, leaving two children, 
John and Rebecca. James removed to 
Westtown, and had three children, 
Mary, James and Joseph. The elder 
John Gibbons died in 1721. 

Gibbons, Henry, came from " Pari- 
vidge, Darbyshire, England," in 1682, 
with his wife Hellen and family. He 
was a Friend, and continued to reside 
in or near Darby till the time of his 
death in 1701. In his will he calls 
himself " Henry Gibbons of Darby 
Webster." He left three daughters 
but no son. His wife died in 1715. 
His daughter Anna intermarried with 
Samuel Sellers in 1684. Henry Gib- 
bons with forty others, had suffered 
one month's imprisonment in England, 
for no other offence than being present 
at a meeting in which Elizabeth Deane 
was making a prayer. 

Gilpin, Joseph, the son of Thomas 
and .^oan Gilpin of Warborough, Eng- 
land, was born in 1664. He was mar- 
ried to Hannah Glover in 1691, and 
went to reside in Dorchester, but it 
was not till about the year 1695 that 
they emigrated to America. They set- 
tled in Birmingham, their fii'st dwell* 
ing being a cave on the side of a hill, 
the exact site of which can yet be 
pointed out on the farm late the pro- 
perty of John D. Gilpin, Esq., one mile 
south of Dilworthstown. How long 
this couple occupied their cave as a 
dwelling is not known. They were 
strict members of the Society of Friends, 
and maintained a good standing both 
in that society and in the community 
at large. Their children were fifteen 
in number, viz : Hannah, Samuel, Ra- 
chel, Ruth, Lydia, Thomas, Ann, Jo- 
seph, Sarah, George, Isaac, Moses, 
Alice, Mary and Esther, the two elder 
of whom were born in England. From 
the low habitation of a cave, J jseph 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



465 



Grilpin became possessed of a plentiful 
estate. He was a useful man in his 
neighborhood, and lived to see all his 
children grown up to be men and 
women, and all but two married, and 
married to his mind. He died in 1740 
at an advanced age The remote an- 
cestry of the Gilpin family is given in 
the •' Lives of eminent Fhiladelphians,'' 
p. 389. 

Gleave, George, was an early settler 
in Springfield. He was in member- 
ship with Friends, and in 168*7 married 
Esther Powell, also a member. He 
died before 1690, leaving but one child, 
a son, named John, who as early as 
1707 intermarried with Elizabeth Mil- 
ler, a circumstance that renders it pro- 
bable that he was the son of a former 
wife. John's children were George, 
Esther, Rachel, Isaac and John. Es- 
ther, the widow of George, was married 
to Joseph Ware in 1601. The ford on 
Crum Creek, at Lewis' mills, for nearly 
a century was known as Gleave's Ford. 
This ford was on the " great road from 
Marlborough to Philadelphia," and as 
early as 1754 a bridge was erected over 
the creek at that point by private con- 
tributions, the subscription paper for 
which is still preserved. 

GooDSONX, John, " Chirurgeon to the 
Societj^ of Free Traders," came from 
London, and arrived at Upland a short 
time before the first visit of the Pro- 
prietary. He was a Friend, and brought 
a certificate from the monthly meeting 
at the Peel in London. He resided for 
a time at Upland, and subsequently re- 
moved to Philadelphia, where he con- 
tinued to reside. In 1694 he and 
Samuel Carpenter were commissioned 
by the Proprietary assistants to Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Markhara. He was a 
man of ability, and was probably the 
first practising physician in Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Graham, Henet Hale, emigrated 
from England and settled in Chester 
some time prior to the year 1755. 
From this date through a long course 
of years his name and his chirography, 
which is very peculiar, constantly ap- 
pear in the County records. For very 
many years he held the offices of Regis- 
ter, Recorder, Pothonotary, and also 
Clerk of the serveral Courts for the 

30 



large County of Chester ; and what is 
remarkable, he executed nearlj- all the 
writing with his own hand, a fact that 
shows his great industry. In the act 
that established the County of Dela- 
ware, passed in 1789, he was named 
as one of the Justices of its Courts, 
but it was decided that the appoint- 
ment of justices by the Legislature was 
void. He died the same year. 

Gregohy, William, settled early in 
Edgmont township, and in 1685 mar- 
ried Rebecca, the daughter of John 
Houlston, who resided in the neighbor- 
hood. He lived in full membership 
with the Society of Friends till his 
death, which occurred about the year 
1704. His children were John, Will- 
iam, Elizabeth, Mary, Simon, Sarah 
and Edmund. 

Grist, John, had settled on the Del- 
aware prior to the first visit of the 
Proprietary. He was a Friend, and his 
marriage with Ann Butt in 1682 is one 
of the earliest marriages noticed in the 
Records of Chester Monthly Meeting. 
His residence, by the running of the 
circular line, was included in New- 
castle County. 

Grubb, John, with his wife Frances, 
was a resident of Upland as early as 
1679, but does not appear to have been 
settled there as early as 1677. In 
1679, jointly with Richard Buffington, 
he purchased three hundred acres of 
land on the southwest side of Chester 
Creek above Chester, and may have 
resided there some time. His occupa- 
tion was that of a tanner. His chil- 
dren were Emanuel, John, Joseph, 
Henry, Samuel, Nathaniel, Peter, Cha- 
rity and Phebe, all of whom were 
living at the time of his death in 1708. 
His daughter Charity was married to 
Richard Beeson prior to his death. He 
does not appear to have been a Quaker, 
and probably was an Episcopalian. 
His age was about sixty years. 

Grubb, Emanuel, eldest son of the 
above John Grubb, was born near Up- 
land in 1681. Much notoriety has 
been attached to his name, by the cu- 
rious in such matters, as the first born 
child of English parents in Pennsyl- 
vania. He is not, however, entitled to 
this distinction, for the regular register 



466 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



of births of Chester Monthly Meeting, 
in the hand-writing of Thomas Chalk- 
ley, shows that at least five children 
of English parentage were born here 
at an earlier date. Emanuel was a re- 
markable man on account of the great 
vigor of his constitution. He lived in 
Brandywine Hundred, and died there 
in iTel in the eighty-sixth year of his 
age, never having suffered from sick- 
ness till within a few days of his death. 
A few months before his death he rode 
from his residence to Philadelphia and 
back in a day, a distance of forty 
miles. (See Pennsjdvania Chronicle, 
1*767.) He was buried at St. Martin's 
church, Marcus Hook, of which he had 
been an active and influential member. 

Hall, Thomas, was a purchaser of 
land in England, when he resided at 
Goataker, in the parish of Hillmortin, 
Wiltshire. By trade he was a cord- 
wainer. He located his land in Con- 
cord, and was among the very earliest 
settlers of that township. It is not 
known that he was a Friend. A Sa- 
muel Hall, who was in membership 
Avith Friends, resided in Springfield as 
early as 1692, was probably a son 
of the subject of this notice. Samuel 
died in 1*737, while his wife Mary was 
still living. His children were, John, 
Elizabeth, George, Ann, Samuel and 
Thomas. 

Hallowell, John, migrated from 
Hucknel, parish of Sutton, Nottingham- 
shire, England, in 1683, and settled in 
Darby, now Upper Darby. He was 
probably married a short time before 
leaving England. His wife, Mary, was 
the daughter of Thomas Sharp They 
were both Quakers upon their arrival 
here, and continued in that faith while 
they lived. Their children were, John, 
Elizabeth, Hannah, Samuel, Benjamin, 
and Jane Mary died in 1701-2, and 
John in 1706. The late Judge John 
Hallowell, of Philadelphia, was a de- 
scendant of the subject of this notice. 

Hamms, Henry, was originally from 
Middlesex County, England, where he 
had learned the trade of a shoemaker 
with Peter Beverly. He came to Penn- 
sylvania by the way of Virginia, and 
while unmarried lived in Springfield. 
In 1688, he married Rebecca Fincher, 
a member of Haverford meeting, re- 



siding near the Schuylkill. He subse- 
quently purchased land in Marple, and 
resided on it at the time of his decease 
in 1699, leaving his wife and one son, 
Francis, to survive him, 

Harding, John, with his wife Amy, 
were among the early English Quaker 
settlers of Chichester. He was present 
at the first monthly meeting held there,' 
and was the largest contributor toward 
building the first meeting-house in that 
township. Monthly meetings were fre- 
quently held at his house. He died iu 
1688, without issue, and in 1690 his 
widow intermarried with Philip Roman. 

Harris, Hugh, immigrated about the 
year 1685, near the same time, and pos- 
sibly in the same ship, with William 
Brinton, whose daughter Elizabeth he 
married early in 1686, and settled on 
the north side of the tract of land lo- 
cated by his father-in-law. In religious 
j)rofession he was a Quaker, and by 
trade a weaver. He probably came 
from the neighborhood of Birmingham, 
in England. His death occurred in 
1708. His children were, Evan, Hugh, 
John, Jane, Lois and Olive. 

Harrison, Francis, migrated from 
London, and was a resident of Concord 
as 1685, and probably earlier. He was 
in membership with Friends at the 
time of his arrival here, but about the 
time of the Keithian troubles in the 
Society, he seems to have separated 
from it. In 1686, his name appears as 
one of the Justices of the Court. 

Harry, Daniel, came from " Mach- 
anlloth" near Dolgelly, in iMerioneth, 
Wales, in 1687, and settled in Radnor 
township. In 1691, he married Sybill, 
the daughter of David Price, of the 
same township. 

Harvey, Job, came from Chesterfield, 
England, in the year 1702, and inter- 
married with Mary, daughter of John 
Bethel, the owner of the Darby Mills. 
Job settled at Darby, and shortly after 
the death of his father-in-hiw, became 
owner or part owner of the same mills. 
They had one child, Josiah, but may 
have had more. Job lived to a good 
old age, and became an elder in the 
Friends' meeting of which he was a 
member. His wife, Mary, died in 1727. 



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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



467 



Hastings, John, with his wife Eliza- 
beth, arrived at Chester a short time 
before the arrival of the Proprietary, 
or in company with him, and settled in 
Nether Providence. From the appoint- 
ments assigned to him by the meeting, 
it may be inferred that he was advanced 
in years at the time of his arrival. Eli- 
zabeth died in 1684, but he lived till 
1698 ; and as his death is recorded at 
Haverford, it may be inferred that he 
had removed to that place. 

Hastings, Joshua, arrived in Penn- 
sylvania with his wife Elizabeth and 
family, a short time previous to the ar- 
rival of the Proprietary in 1682, and 
settled in Nether Providence, probably 
on the same tract of land marked on 
Holmes' map Johi Hastings , whose son 
he probably was. He was a member 
of the first Grand Jury empanneled in 
Pennsylvania of which there is any re- 
cord, and which held its sittings at 
Chester in Sept. 1682, a short time be- 
fore the arrival of William Penn. He 
was a member of Assembly in 1684, and 
served other public trusts. As a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends he main- 
tained a good standing. He removed 
to Philadelphia, whereifie died in 1724, 
his wife having died one year before. 

Hastings, Henry, was a resident of 
Upland long before the arrival of Wil- 
liam Penn ; was a member of the first 
jury that sat within the limits of Penn- 
sylvania, (1677) of which any record 
has been preserved, and was also a 
member of the first jury under Penn's 
government. It does not appear that 
he was a Quaker. He held a large 
tract of land in Chichester, and may 
have occupied it in his latter years. 

Hayes, Jonathan, with his wife, 
Mary, was settled in Marple as early as 
1684. He was much the largest land- 
holder in that township ; was a man of 
ability and influence, and appears to 
have acted on his own judgment. He 
was a Justice of the Court, and repre- 
sented the County in the Provincial 
Assembly. He had a daughter Mary, 
a son Jonathan and perhaps other 
children. Mary intermarried with Evan 
Lewis, of Newtown, and Jonathan with 
Jane Rees, of Merion. It is supposed 
that he came to his death by the hands 
of an assassin. See page 223. 



Hayes, Richard, Sen., with his wife 
Issatt and two sons, Richard and John, 
emigrated from Ilmiston, Pembroke- 
shire, Wales, to Pennsylvania in 1687, 
and settled in Haverford. He was a 
Friend, was advanced in years at the 
time of his settlement, and died in 
1697. 

Hayes, Richard, Jr., son of the 
above Richard, continued to reside 
during his life on the same premises 
that he and his father had settled upon 
at the time of their arrival. In 1697, 
he married Elizabeth, the daughter of 
Henry Lewis, of Haverford, then de- 
ceased. Having received a better edu- 
cation than was usual among the early 
immigrants, and being withal a man of 
excellent business qualifications, he 
was almost constantly kept in some 
public employment. Still he found 
time to give very constant attention to 
his religious duties, and also to manage 
his pecuniary affairs to great profit and 
advantage. In company with David 
Morris and Samuel Lewis, he, about 
the year 1707, erected a mill on Darby 
Creek, for a long time known as " Ha- 
verford new Mill," (now Leedom's mill) 
which he managed himself till the pe- 
riod of his death in 17S8. He was a 
Justice of the Courts of Chester County; 
served as a member of the Assembly 
seven years, and was for a long time 
one of the Commissioners of the Loan 
Oi3Sce. His children were, Joseph, 
Mary, Hannah, Richard and Benjamin. 
Joseph intermarried with Hannah, and 
Richard with Sarah, daughters of Lewis 
David, of Haverford ; Mary, with John, 
son of John Jacobs, of Perkiomen ; 
Hannah, with James Jones, of Block- 
ley, and Benjamin, with Mary, daugh- 
ter of Jonathan Jones, of Merion. The 
annexed facsimile is taken from his 
Ledger, kept by himself at the mill. 

Hendrickson, Jacob. The first 
appearance of this man on the Dela- 
ware River, was as a soldier under the 
direction of the noted Dutch Commis- 
sary, Andries Hudde, in the year 1646. 
He was doubtless present and partici- 
pated in the squabbles between his 
commander and Governor Printz, 
when any work was to be done. 
Having spied out the beauty and rich- 
ness ot this land while in the perform- 
ance of his duty as a soldier, he 



468 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



adopted it as his permanent abode, 
when his term of service expired. He 
occupied a tract of land on the east 
side of Crum Creek in what is now 
Ridley township, which was surveyed 
to him in 1678, when he was still alive. 
As this same tract is marked with the 
name of John Hendrickson on Holme's 
map, it may be inferred that Jacob 
had died between that date and. 1682, 
and that John may have been his son. 
John died in 1721 at Ridley, leaving 
three sons, Andrew, John and Israel. 

Hendrickson, Albert, one of the 
earliest Dutch settlers on the Delaware. 
His place was about a mile west of 
Chester Creek. He called his planta- 
tion Lomoco, the patent for which was 
from Governor Lovelace to Juns Jus- 
tafson in 1673. He served as constable 
of Upland Court in 1676-7, and was a 
juror at the first court under Penn's 
government. He died in 1715, having 
first devised his homestead to his son 
Tobias, and made Tobias and the cele- 
brated Quaker preacher, John Salkeld, 
his Executors. His other children 
were, Albertus, James, Johannes, Eliza- 
beth, Briget and Issabel. His name 
is Holbert on Holme's map. 

Hbnt, Rees, who was born in Llan- 
dewy, Pembrokeshire, Wales, came 
alone to this country in 1688, and fixed 
on a place of residence in Newtown 
township, which he prepared for the 
reception of his wife and children. 
Having made arrangements for the 
accommodation of his family, he re- 
returned to his native country and 
brought them over in 1694. His 
daughter Jane, after having success- 
ively proposed her intentions of marri- 
age with Thomas Martin and Robert 
Wharton, and failed to make good her 
engagements, was married to John 
Smith of Elk River, Maryland, in 1709, 
according to the usages of the Society 
of Friends. It is not known that Rees 
Hent had a son. 

Helm, Israel, a native of Sweden, 
was one of the early emigrants from 
that country to the Delaware. In 1659 
he resided at " Passayung," and was 
employed there as Collector of the 
Customs. In 1668 he with others ob- 
tained from Governor Richard Nicolls, 
a grant of land embracing nearly the 



whole of Calken Hook, where he then 
resided. He was a member of Captain 
Carre's Council the same year. In 
1774 he was commissioned as one of 
the justices " for the river," and doubt- 
less assisted in holding a court at 
Upland, some years prior to that Up- 
land Court of which the records have 
been preserved, and of which he also 
was a justice. In 1680, he conveyed 
" his land and plantation att Upland" 
to James Sandelandes, having, it is sup- 
posed, been a resident for some time of 
that place. During his residence on 
the River, he made a visit to his native 
country. He had acquired the title of 
Captain^ and as the Swedish Govern- 
ment sent a considerable number of 
soldiers to the Colony, it may reasona- 
bly be supposed that he at first came 
in a military capacity. Having learned 
the language of the Indians, he was 
frequently emjiloyed as an interpreter. 
He was the father-in-law of Peter 
Cock, and some of his descendants 
bearing his name, still reside in the 
County. He was still living in 1693. 

Hewes, William, was a purchaser of 
land from John Fenwick in England, 
which was located on the Cohansey or 
Alloway's Creek, in salem County, New 
Jersey, and it may reasonably be sup- 
posed that he came over with Fenwick 
in 1675, and settled upon his land. Be 
this as it may, in 1678-9, he became a 
purchaser of land at or near Marcus 
Hook from Roger Pedrick, and settled 
at that place. His name appears as a 
juror at the first court held under 
Penn's Government. He was a Friend, 
and one of the founders of Chichester 
Meeting, but his name disappears from 
tiie records about the year 1686. 

HiBBERD, JosiAH, was Settled in 
Darby as early as 1692. In 1698 he 
was married to Ann the daughter of 
Richard Bonsali, before John Blunston. 
a Justice of the Peace, and a suitable 
number of witnesses. The Justice 
and also the parties were members of 
the Society of Friends, but the father 
of the bride having interposed objec- 
tions to the marriage, it could not be 
accomplished at the meeting in the 
usual way. A record of this marriage 
may be found at West Chester in Deed 
Book, A. I. p. 223. The parties were 
dealt with, but were not disowned by 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



469 



the meeting; and what is singular, the 
part taken by the Justice in the trans- 
action was not noticed. Their chil- 
dren were, John, Joseph, Josiah, Abra- 
ham, Mary, Benjamin, Elizabeth and 
Sarah. 

Hill, William, whose wife was Mary 
the daughter of John Hunter, was from 
the north of England, and emigrated 
prior to 1690. Their settlement was 
in Middletown township, not far from 
Lima. William died in 1753 or 1754. 
His children were Peter, John, Chris- 
tiana and others. The Hills were not 
originally in membership with Friends, 
but some of their descendants united 
with that Society. 

HoLGH, Israel, a young Swedish 
pastor,who visited the Swedish settle- 
ments on the Delaware while under the 
government of John Printz. He re- 
mained about two years, when he re- 
turned to his native country and became 
a minister in West Gothland, 

Holland, Thomas, came to Darby in 
1683, bringing a certificate from the 
Monthly Meeting at the " Brace house 
in the County of Darby," dated " ye 8th 
day of ye 12th mon. 1682," for himself 
and wife Mary. 

Holland, John, supposed to be a 
son of the above Thomas, emigrated 
from Hartshaw, in Lancashire, Eng- 
land, in 1713. They were Friends, and 
probably settled in Marple. 

Holme, Thomas, the first Surveyor- 
General under Penn's government, was 
from Waterford, Ireland. Though call- 
ed Captain Holme, he was a Quaker. 
He was for some years a member of 
the Executive Council, at the com- 
mencement of the government. He 
died at his residence in Dublin town- 
ship, Philadelphia County, in 1695, 
" aged full seventie years." 

Hood, Thomas, came to this country 
unmarried in 1682, and settled in 
Darby township, west of the creek. 
His former rc'^idence was Breason, in 
the County of Derby, England, and 
being a Friend, brought a certificate 
from the meeting at the Breath-house. 
In 1689 he married Sarah Blankley, 



of New Jersey. He left five daughters 
but no son. His wife died in 1702, and 
he in 17I7, 

Hood, John, Sr., with his wife, mi- 
grated from Castledownington, Leices- 
tershire, England, in 1686, and settled 
in Darby, now Upper Darby township. 
His son John, in 1694, married Abigail 
Shut, and at the same time Thomas 
Shut married his daughter Elizabeth. 
The younger John also settled in Up- 
per Darby; but he died in 1702, and 
while his father was still living. They 
were all Friends. The elder John 
Hood was a member of the Provincial 
Assembly in 1704. 

HoLLiNGSWORTH, Henry, was the son 
of Valentine Hollingsworth, an eminent 
Quaker, who came from Cheshire about 
the year 1682, and settled in Newcastle 
County. His mother was Ann, the 
daughter of Henry Cornish, High 
Sheriff of London, who was unjustly 
executed during the reign of James II. 
Henry was a surveyor, and it has been 
said that he assisted Thomas Holmes, 
the Surveyor-General, in laying out 
the plan of Philadelphia. If this be 
the case, he must have immigrated be- 
fore his father. He was in member- 
ship with Friends, and appears to have 
been married before he left England. 
For some time he was deputy surveyor 
for Chester County, and made a num- 
ber of our original surveys. In 1695, 
when he resided in Chester, and held 
the office of Sheriff of Chester County, 
he represented Newcastle County in 
the Provincial Assembly ; his father 
being a representative from Newcastle 
County the same year. In 1700, and 
for some time afterwards, he was clerk 
of the courts of Chester County. He 
appears to have been a man of con- 
siderable energy, which he exercised 
in furthering the improvements of the 
County. He was the owner of lots 
and built in Chester, and was part 
owner, and probably the projector, of 
the first mill built in Upper Providence, 
(about 1695.) He resided in Chester 
till 1701, and perhaps later, when he 
removed to Maryland, and settled at 
Elk, (now Elkton,) and received the 
appointment of Surveyor for Cecil 
County. He raised a large family of 
sons, among whom was Zebulon, the 
father of Levi Hollingsworth, an emi- 



470 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



nent merchant of Philadelphia, who 
died in 1824. 

HosKiNS, John, whose name in the 
earliest records is spelled Hodgskin, 
with his wife Mary, came from Che- 
shire, England, to reside in Chester as 
early as 1684. He professed with the 
Quakers, and brought a certificate satis- 
factory to the Meeting, but he was not 
a very strict member. In 1688 he pur- 
chased a lot from John Simcocls, " con- 
taining in breadth 16 yards fronting 
on Chester Creek and running back 
inlo Neals Lawsons lands and the lands 
of Urin Keen on the North, and the 
lands of Neals Lawson on the South," 
upon which he erected a dwelling, and 
kept a house of entertainment. It does 
not appear that he had children by his 
first wife, but she dying, he married 
Ruth Atkinson in 1698. The children 
by this marriage were John, Stephen, 
George, Joseph and Mary. He died in 
1716. John Hoskins was a member of 
the first Assembly held in Philadelphia, 
and was twice Sheriff of Chester 
County. 

Hoskins, Jane, whose maiden name 
was Fenn, was a noted preacher in the 
Society of Friends. She was born in 
London in 1693, and in her sixteenth 
year became the subject of a religious 
impression that it was her duty to visit 
Pennsylvania. She lost sight of this 
impression for a time, but it returned 
stronger than ever, and in her nine- 
teenth year she yielded implicit obe- 
dience. She accompanied a Welshman 
named Robert Davis, who emigrated 
with his family, and arrived in Phila- 
delphia in 1712. Davis had paid her 
passage, under a promise of repayment, 
out of her first earnings in America. 
Growing uneasy, he insisted that she 
should bind herself as a servant four 
years, which being contrary to her 
agreement with him, she resisted ; 
whereupon he had recourse to the law, 
and caused her imprisonment. She 
was relieved by four Friends of Ply- 
mouth, who paid Davis, and employed 
her to teach their children. This was 
her first acquaintance with the Quakers. 
In the beginning she attended their 
meetings rather as a spy, but she soon 
became convinced of the truth of their 
doctrines, and of the propriety of their 
practices, and after many weighty exer- 



cises united with the Society, and soon 
afterwards appeared in the ministry. 
Some time after the expiration of her 
term with the four Plymouth Friends 
she removed to Haverford. One First 
Day at Haverford Meeting, David Lloyd 
and his wife, from Chester, came in, 
and at once the impression came 
strongly on Jane that " these were the 
people with whom she must go and 
settle.'' David and his wife had fixed 
their eyes on the young woman, and 
had come to the conclusion that " she 
was or would be a preacher." They 
"were tendered" towards her, "and it 
was fixed in their minds to take her 
under their care, and nurse her for the 
Lord's service." She eventually, in 
1719, became an inmate of David 
Lloyd's house, and a member of his 
family. She frequently spoke in meet- 
ings, and made journeys " in the ser- 
vice of truth," to the other provinces, 
often accompanied by Elizabeth Levis, 
afterwards Shipley. In 1727 she visi- 
ted Great Britain and Ireland in the 
same service. In 1738 she was married 
to Joseph Hoskins, of Chester. Jane 
Hoskins was a woman of undoubted 
ability, and her peculiar temperament 
eminently fitted her for the ministry. 

Howell, William, emigrated from 
Castle-bigt, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 
1682, and settled in Haverford town- 
ship, probably at first near the meet- 
ing-house. In 1684, he was one of a 
committee to fix the site and lay off 
the grave-yard attached to Haverford 
Friends Meeting, of which he was an 
active and influential member ; meet- 
ings being frequently held at his house 
before the meeting-house was built. 
His wife Margaret, who had immi- 
grated with him, died in 1685, and in 
1688 he was again married to Mary 
Thomas. 

Hugh, Stephen, was one of the 
earliest settlers in Springfield, (1683,) 
but he died before the end of the year, 
leaving a widow, Frances, who inter- 
married with Thomas Norbury, and 
one daughter, Martha, who intermar- 
ried with Jonathan Taylor. 

Hugh, David, came ever with the 
early Welsh settlers of Merion, and for 
a time lived in that township. In 
1696 he married Martha, the daughter 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



471 



of Ralph Lewis, and settled in Haver- 
ford. He died in 1709, leaviaa: six 
children, viz., David, Ruth, John, Marj, 
Samuel and Caleb. 

Humphrey, Elizabeth, emigrated 
from Llanegrin, County of Merioneth, 
in 1682, with her son Benjamin, and 
two daughters, Anne and Gobitha, and 
settled in Haverford. They were all 
Friends, and she brought a certificate 
with her, that recommends her "for an 
honest faithful woman y* has been 
serviceable in her place, and praise- 
worthy in her convei'sation," and her 
children " as tender plants, growing in 
that which they do profess, even the 
trjth and the grace of God." Gobitha 
died in 1697; Lydia was married to 
Ellis Ellis, of Haverford, and Anne to 
Edward Robert. 

Humphrey, Daniel, came from 
Llanegrin, County of Merioneth, Wales, 
in 1682, and settled in Haverford town- 
ship. His mother, Elizabeth, with the 
younger children, came the next year. 
He had joined the Friends in his native 
country, " and left such a testimony 
behind him as is and was of good sa- 
vour." In 1695 he was married to 
Hannah, the daughter of Dr. Thomas 
Wj'nn, of Merion. Their children were 
Samuel, Thomas, Hannah, Benjamin, 
Elizabeth, Mary, Joshua, Edward, Mar- 
tha and Charles. He visited his na- 
tive country, on business, in 1725. 

Humphrey, Benjamin, came to Penn- 
sylvania with his mother, Elizabeth 
Humphrey, in 1683, (see Elizabeth,) 
and settled in Haverford, but removed 
to Merion. In 1694 he was married to 
Mary Llewellyn, of Haverford His 
uncle, John Humphrey, of Merion, hav- 
ing devised all his estate to him, he be- 
came a permanent resident of Merion, 
and died there in 1738, in the seventy- 
sixth year of his age. He was strongly 
attached to the principles of Friends, 
and was remarkable for his hospitality. 

Humphrey, Edward, son of Daniel 
Humphrey, and Hannah his wife, was 
born in Haverford township, in the 
year 1710. He learned the fulling and 
dyeing business, and carried on that 
business as long as he lived, at the 
place that is now known as " Kelly's 
Upper Factory." Though fulling was 



his business, he did not attend to it 
personally; for having acquired con- 
siderable knowledge of medicine and 
surgery, probably from his grandfather, 
Dr. Wynn, and being remarkable for his 
ingenuity, judgment and success, he ac- 
quired a high reputation as a physician 
and surgeon. His services were much 
sought after, but were seldom remune- 
rated, for he did not charge the poor 
for attendance. What, however, re- 
flected most the true dignity of his 
character, " was his benevolence and 
humanity to his suflfering fellow-crea- 
tures — ever delighting to relieve their 
distresses, to soften the rigor of their 
misfortunes, and to pour balm into their 
bleeding wounds." He died unmarried, 
January 1st, 1776, and was buried at 
Haverford Friends' burying-ground, 
having lived a consistent member of 
that Society. 

Humphrey, John, with his wife, Joan, 
emigrated from Llwundu, in Merion- 
ethshire, Wales, in 1683, and eventual- 
ly settled in Merion, .adjoining the Ha- 
verford line. His certificate attests 
that he had been a member of the So- 
ciety of Friends twenty-three years ; 
that he was faithful in times of great 
suffering, and that his house " was a 
free receptacle to Friends." He was 
also " a minister of few words accord- 
ing to his measure." Though a tho- 
rough Welshman, he had, for the time 
in which he lived, a good knowledge 
of the English language, and withal 
some taste for literature, as will appear 
by his translation of "A Song of Re- 
joicing," composed by Thomas Ellis. 
John Humphrey died in 1699, aged 
sixty-six years, and his wife one year 
earlier. 'They left no children. \_See 
under Thomas Ellis. '\ 

Humphrey, Richard, from Llangu- 
nin, Merionethshire, settled in Radnor 
in 1683. He had professed "the truth" 
many years before he left his native 
country. He died, unmarried, in 1692, 
and was buried at Haverford. 

Humphrey, Joseph, lived in the town 
of Darby as early as 1684, and was 
that year married to Elizabeth Medford, 
a widow, of the same town. He re- 
moved to Philadelphia, and died in that 
city in 1693. He was in membership 
with Friends. 



472 



BIOaRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Humphrey, Charles, the son of 
Daniel and Hannah Humphrey, was 
bcrn in Haverford about the year 1712, 
and died in 1786. He was brought up 
to the milling business, and being a 
joint owner with his brother, Joshua, 
of the Haverford mill, he carried on 
that business extensively for many 
years. He was a man of fine talents, 
and at one time was very influential in 
the county. In 1764 he was elected to 
the Provincial Assembly, and was re- 
elected to that ofiice, annually, till 
1775, when he was chosen a member 
of Congress. In that body, though he 
had contended, with all his energies, 
against the oppressive measures of 
Great Britain, he thought the time had 
not come to sever our connection with 
the mother country, and voted against 
the Declaration of Independence. He 
has been censured for this vote, but in 
giving it, he represented the views of a 
large majority of his constituents at the 
time it was given. He retired to pri- 
vate life, and thought he took no part 
in the great struggle for liberty, his 
sympathies were on the side of his 
country. He was a kind neighbor and 
was serviceable in settling disputes in 
his neighborhood. No one ever ques- 
tioned his integrity either in public or 
private life. 

Humphrey, Joshua, the son of 
Joshua, and grandson of the immi- 
grant Daniel Humphrey, was born in 
Haverford township in the year 1751. 
His mother was Sarah, the daughter of 
Edward and Elinor William, of Block- 
ley. His ancestors were thoroughly 
Welsh, and all of them Quakers. With 
only the advantages of such an early 
education as the common schools of the 
country afforded at that day, Joshua 
was apprenticed at a tender age to a 
ship-carpenter of Philadelphia. Before 
the completion of his apprenticeship 
his instructor died, but Mr. Humphrey 
had made such good use of his oppor- 
tunities in perfecting himself in his 
trade, and at the same time by his good 
conduct had secured the confidence of 
the family so fully, that he was at once 
placed at the head of the establish- 
ment, and managed the whole business 
for the widow during several years. 

Being possessed of a comprehensive 
and philosophical mind, he soon came 
to be regarded as the first shipwright 



in the country. So much was this the 
case, that after the adoption of the 
Constitution, and when it became ap- 
parent that our government must be 
possessed of a navy, Mr. Humphrey 
was consulted, officially, and his views, 
which had been communicated to the 
Hon. Robert Morris, in a letter dated 
January (ith, 1793, but more in detail 
to Gen. Knox, then Secretary of War, 
were, in the main, adopted. [Lives of 
Eminent Philadelphians, p. 588.] The 
leading ideas of Mr. Humphrey were : 
" That as our navy must be for a con- 
siderable time, inferior in the number 
of its vessels, to the navies of Europe, 
to compensate for this deficiency in 
number, our ships should be formida- 
ble from their character, and larger in 
size and armament, and stronger in 
construction than those of Europe of 
the same class." He was the first 
Naval Consti'uctor of the United States, 
and several of our first ships of war 
were built under his immediate direc- 
tion. The marked superiority of our 
vessels in combats with those of Eng- 
land, of the same class, during the War 
of 1812, was mainly owing to the adop- 
tion of Mr. Humphrey's suggestions. 
He may justly be called The Father of 
the American Navy. 

The last thirty years of his life were 
spent on a part of his patrimonial 
estate in Haverford. Here he died in 
1838, at the advanced age of eighty- 
seven years, his mental faculties being 
almost unimpaired to the last. 

Hunt, James, arrived at Philadelphia, 
from Kent, England, in 1684. During 
the following year he purchased three 
tracts of land in Kingsessing, from 
Lasse Cock, and settled upon one of 
them that bordered on Minquas Creek. 
This tract had been occupied by the 
Swedes ever since the arrival of Go- 
vernor Printz, and no doubt our new 
settler found improvements ready made 
to his hand. He had been married in 
England manj^ years before he left that 
country, and probably had lost his wife 
some time before he emigrated. Be- 
sides two daughters, Elizabeth and 
Mary, who came with him, it is not 
known that he had any other children. 
Towards the close of the year 1686 he 
was married " at ye house of John 
Blunston"to Elizabeth, the daughter 
of Richard Bonsall, of Darby. By this 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



473 



second marriage he had two children, 
Anne, born in 1688, and James, born 
1691. 

His daughter, Elizabeth, was married 
to William Bartram in 1696. Their 
first child was John Bartram, the bota- 
nist. His daughter, Mary, was married 
to Abraham Marshall in 1703. Her 
eighth child was Humphrey Marshall, 
the botanist. Thus we have presented 
the remarkable circumstance of two 
sisters being the mothers of the two 
earliest students of botany in the New 
World. 

His daughter, Anne, was married to 
John Bluntston, Jr., of Darby, and his 
son, James, to Sarah Wildman, of Falls 
Meeting, Bucks County; both in ITOT. 
James Hunt, and all his children, were 
married in accordance with the discip- 
line of Friends. He died in the spring 
of 1717. 

Hunter, John, was originally a resi- 
dent of the north of England, was a 
strong churchman, and probably by his 
acts had made himself somewhat offen- 
sive to the Catholics. Upon the acces- 
sion of James II. to the throne, in order 
to escape observation, he removed to 
Rathdrum, in Wicklow County, Ire- 
land, where he became an extensive 
grazier. When William and Mary were 
called to the throne of England, and 
with their armies followed the fugitive 
forces of James into Ireland, John 
Hunter entered the Protestant army as 
a trooper, and, with his friend, Antho- 
ny Wayne, was present at the Battle of 
Boyne. William Hill had married the 
daughter of John Hunter, and, with his 
wife, had emigrated to Pennsylvania, 
and settled in Middletown township. 
John, with his family, followed his son- 
in-law to America and settled in New- 
town township, then Chester County, 
where he purchased a large tract of 
land, which he occupied durinq his life. 
He brought over with him a holster and 
pistol, (both in use at the Battle of 
Boyne,) and also a wedding ring. The 
two latter are still preserved among his 
descendents. The ring bears this in- 
scription, " Keep this in remembrance 
of me, 1693." John Hunter died in 
1732, aged about seventj' years. Peter, 
a son of John Hunter, served in the 
wars between England and France, in 
which the Colonies participated. 



Ireland, Nicholas, came from Lax- 
ton in the County of Nottingham 
England and settled in Darby, now- 
Upper Darby in 1689, and was married 
to Elizabeth Humphrey at Darby Meet- 
ing in 1692. The name soon disappears 
from all records of the County. 

Jackson, Roger, an early settler in 
the borough of Chester. He had ac- 
quired considerable property previous 
to his death, which occurred in 1715 ; 
but having no relatives in this country, 
he devised the whole of his estate to be 
equally divided between such of his 
relations in England, as should apply 
within seven years. 

Jackson, Dr. Paul, was distin- 
guished for his talents, and was one of 
the most highly educated men of his 
day. When quite a young man, he 
was appointed Professor of Greek and 
Latin, in the College of Philadelphia, 
now the University of Pennsylvania. 
Finding his health impaired by confine- 
ment and study, he left the College, 
and joined the expedition of General 
Forbes, got. up for the reduction of 
Fort Du Quesne, as commander of a . 
company. In this expedition, his pru- 
dence and bravery commended him to 
the particular notice of the General. 
By the active life of a soldier, his health 
was improved ; but his fondness for 
study returning with his renewed health, 
he abandoned the military profession, 
and engaged in the study of physic. 
Having by great application, and by the 
attendance at what was then called 
" the Royal Hospital," become well 
versed both in the theory and practice 
of medicine and surgery, he settled in 
Chester, where he soon became a well- 
established and successful physician. 
After practicing his profession for some 
years, and while holding the office of 
Chief Burgess of the town, he died at 
Chester, in the year 1767, at the early 
age ofthirty-eight years, and was buried 
in St. Paul's Churchyard. There are 
reasons for believing that this eminent 
man was a native of Chester. 

Jackson, Ephraim, emigrated from 
England, and lived within the bounds 
of Chester Monthly Meeting of Friends, 
as early as 1687. In 1695, he was 
married to Rachel, daughter of Nicholas 
Newlin of Concord, and having pur- 



474 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



chased land in Edgemont, became a 
resident of tliat township. Having re- 
ceived a better education than was 
usual in bis day, he, for many years, 
held the situation as clerk for Chester 
Monthly Meeting of Friends, of which 
he was an exemplary member. He 
was also much employed in civil affairs, 
especially where good penmanship was 
needed, and in 1710 be represented 
Chester County in the Provincial As- 
sembly. His children were John, 
Joseph, Nathaniel, Josiah, Samuel, 
Ephraim, Mary and Rachel. His death 
occurred in 1723, at the age of nearly 
seventy-five years. 

Jaceson, John, an eminent minister 
of the Society of Friends, was the son 
of Halliday and Jane Jackson of Darby, 
near which place he was born, on the 
29th of September, 1809. His religious 
training was as careful and guarded as 
surrounding circumstances would per- 
mit, and at a very early age, it became 
evident that his inquiring mind was 
exercised on the doctrines and practi- 
ces of his foi'efathers. His natui-al 
temperament was ardent and impetu- 
ous, and he had much to contend with 
in bringing himself under the teach- 
ings of the "still small voice within:" 
but this he accomplished at a very 
early age. In 1835, his father was re- 
moved by death, an event that produced 
a strong impression on his mind, and 
at his grave he appeared in supplica- 
tion. At the age of twenty-five years, 
be married Rachel T., the daughter of 
Isaac Tyson of Baltimore. His wife 
being possessed of a thorough educa- 
tion, after proper reflection, they deter- 
mined to establish a boarding school 
for girls. In this determination, the 
well known " Sharon Boarding School" 
had its origin. He was a land surveyor, 
and made himself useful in settling 
disputed lines. In 1840, with the 
approbation of his meeting, he paid a 
religious visit to the West India Islands 
in companj' with Thomas B. Longstreth 
and George Truman. But theological 
studies did not occupy the whole of his 
attention. In 1834, he became a 
member of the Delaware County Insti- 
tute of Science, and from that time, the 
study of Philosophy and the Natural 
Sciences, engrossed a share of his time 
and constituted his chief recreation. 
His school was supplied with extensive 



cabinets of minerals and fossils, and its 
Astronomical observatory with the best 
and most costly instruments. He de- 
livered popular courses of lectures on 
Philosophy, Chemistry, Geology and 
Astronomy, which his natural fluency 
of language rendered attractive. His 
health, never robust, and doubtless im- 
paired by overtaxing his mind, gradu- 
ally became more and more feeble, till 
the close of his earthly career, on the 
14th of April, 1855, As a preacher of 
the Gospel, he has had few superiors 
in eloquence, and the strict upright- 
ness of his character, was never ques- 
tioned by any one who knew him. 

James, James, was an early Welsh 
settler in Radnor. He was married to 
Jane Edward of the same township in 
1692. He settled in the southwest part 
of Radnor, but after a time removed to 
Haverford, where he died in 1708. In 
his will he names three children, 
George, David and Sarah, and a son- 
in-law, David Lewis. 

James, Howell, was from Pontmoel, 
in Monmouthshire, England. His cer- 
tificate is dated, 5th mo. (July) 1684. 
The meeting from which it emanated, 
was held in a court in front of the 
meeting-house, that had been locked 
up more than a year. He settled in 
Radnor, where his wife Gwenlin died 
in 1686, and from the record, would 
appear to be the first corpse buried in 
the graveyard at Radnor Meeting. In 
1690, he contracted a second marriage 
with Maudlin Kinsey, a widow, and in 
1698, made a visit to his native country. 
He took a very active part in the meet- 
ing affairs of the Society of Friends, in 
which he was held in much esteem. 

James, David, with his wife Margaret, 
arrived in Pennsylvania in August, 
1682. They were Friends, but having 
neglected to bring the usual certificate 
with them, one was forwarded the next 
year, which names a daughter Mary, 
and informs us that they came from 
the parish of Llangeley or Llandegley 
and Glascum, in Radnorshire, Wales, 
and that " they owned the truth several 
years." This certificate is signed by 
John Jarman, David Meredith and other 
early settlers of Radnor, and was pro- 
bably brought over with them. Tra- 
dition says, a son named Evan was 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



475 



born in the passage over. A David 
James, supposed to be the same person, 
purchased a large tract on the eastern 
border of the township of Radnor, upon 
which he resided, and upon which his 
descendants continued to reside till 
within a recent period. This David 
James, died in 1738 or 1739, leaving 
a wife named Jane, who Avas a second 
or possibly a third wife. Besides Mary 
and Evan, his children, so far as is 
known, were Sarah, Rebecca, Isaac and 
Thomas. Evan, to whom the mansion 
property was devised, married Margaret 
Jones of Tredyffrin. Dr. Thomas P. 
James, and John F. James, Esq., of 
Philadelphia, are descendants from 
Evan. 

Jansen, Carles, (Charles Johnson,) 
was one of the original patentees of 
Marcus Hook, from Governor Andros 
in 1676, who, with his five associates 
were then in possession of the place. 
He was a resident of Marcus Hook in 
1678, but how much longer is not 
known. His name would indicate that 
he was a Dutchman. 

Jansen, Jan, as early as 1643, was 
custom house officer at Fort Nassau, 
on the Delaware, by appointment of 
the Dutch authorities at New Amster- 
dam. In a year or two afterwards he 
held the office of Commissary under 
the Dutch West India Company, and 
"was accustomed to trade on the 
South river of New Netherland, with 
the Indians," under the name of Jan 
Jansen von Ilpendam. His employments 
on the Delaware made him acquainted 
with the country, and induced him to 
fix his residence here, but how early is 
not known. In 1677 he resided on 
Marcus Hook Creek, and that was the 
place of his residence in 1685, at the 
time of his decease. In his will he re- 
quests to be buried at " Chester, alias 
Upland." He left a wife, Ellen, to sur- 
vive him. He was doubtless an Epis- 
copalian. 

Jarman, John, with his wife Margaret 
and two children, Elizabeth and Sarah, 
came from Llanidles, Montgomerj'shire, 
Wales, and settled in Radnor township 
about the year 1684. He was a minis- 
ter in the Society of Friends, and was 
instrumental in the establishment of 
Radnor Meeting. He constantly took 



an active part in the proceedings of 
the monthly meeting to which he be- 
longed. He died in 1697, and in 1701 
a testimony concerning him was read, 
but the record of it is not to be found. 
The name is frequently written " Jer- 
man." Meetings were held at his house 
in Wales, for permitting which a cow 
was taken from him worth £2 10s. 

Jarman or Jerman, John, Jr., son 
of the above John Jarman, was born 
in Radnor 9th mo. (November) 12th, 
1684, and was the first male child 
born of European parents in that 
township. He was one of the earliest 
American mathematicians. He died 
in Radnor in 1769, aged nearly 85 
years. In an obituary notice published 
in the " Pennsylvania Chronicle," a 
newspaper of that day, he is spoken of 
as a " gentleman well known for his 
astronomical calculations " It is said 
that he published an almanac. 

Jenkins, William, came from the 
town of Tenby, in the county of Pem- 
broke, Wales, about the year 1686, 
and settled in Haverford township. 
He was an active and influential mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends, and had 
suffered persecution in his native coun- 
try. His name disappears from the 
minutes of Haverford Meeting after 
1697. In 1691 he was one of the Jus- 
tices of the Court for Chester County, 
and was a member of the Assembly 
about the same time. He was an 
original purchaser of 1000 acres of 
land before leaving his native country. 

Job, Andrew, was an early settler in 
and near Chester, but was not among 
the earliest. He was married to Eliza- 
beth Vernon in 1692. Both as a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends and as a 
citizen, he maintained a good stand- 
ing. In 1697 he served the office of 
Sheriff, and in 1702 he represented 
Chester County in the Provincial As- 
sembly. His children were Benjamin, 
Jacob, Thomas, Mary, Enoch, Abraham, 
Caleb, Joshua, Hannah and Patience. 
Shortly after 1704, he removed to Not- 
tingham, and became a permanent re- 
sident there. He died in 1722. 

JuRiAN, Hans, was a resident and 
owner of land in Calken Hook as early 
as 1677, and was still living there in 



476 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



1693. It is believed that he was born 
in this country. The name appears to 
have been changed to Joranson. 

Key, Moses, migrated from Middle- 
with, in the county of Chester, Eng- 
land, in 1700, and upon his first arri- 
val here settled in Nether Providence. 
Early in 1702 he married Elizabeth, the 
daughter of John Yearsly of Thornbury, 
and at that time, or a little before, had 
fixed his residence in Concord. He 
was a member of the Society of Friends, 
and by trade a blacksmith. His chil- 
dren were, Lettice, William, Mary, Eli- 
zabeth, Moses, Hannah, John, Robert, 
Rebecca and Ann. 

King, Thomas, settled in Concord 
as early as 1686. He was in member- 
ship with Friends, and died in 1706, 
leaving his wife Mary, but no children, 
to survive him. 

Kinsman, John, from Fifel, in the 
county of Wilts, England, was settled 
in Chichester as early as 1684, and 
was married to Hannah, the daughter 
of John Simcock the same year. He 
was an active member of Chichester 
Friends' meeting, and the monthly 
meeting was sometimes held at his 
house. As a citizen, he held a respect- 
able position in the community. His 
children were, Elizabeth and Hannah, 
the former of whom married John But- 
ton, in 1704. He died about the year 
1701. 

Kirk, John, from All Freetown, in 
the county of Derby, England, settled 
in Darby, now Upper Darby township, 
in 1687. He was married to Joan, 
daughter of Peter Bllet, (now changed 
to Elliot,) of Kingsessing, the next year 
after his arrival, at Darby meeting, of 
which they were both members. A 
family of eleven children was the result 
of this marriage, all of whom were 
living at the time of his death in 1705. 
He devised his mansion farm to his son 
William, apart of which is still owned 
by his descendants. To his other sons. 
500 acres in Philadelphia County 
(Montgomery) was given. 

Lamplew, Nathaniel, was an early 
Quaker settler on the Delaware below 
Marcus Hook. In 1686, he married 
Susanna, the daughter of John Bf^azer, 



of Chichester, then deceased. At this 
time he was a Friend, but his name dis- 
appears from the records in 1688, and 
as it is known he continued to reside 
in the neighborhood, he probably dis- 
continued his membership. 

Laerson, Neels, (alias Friend) an 
early Swedish inhabitant of Upland. 
He owned 182 acres of land, embracing 
what is now the central part of the 
present town of Chester, most of which 
subsequently became the property of 
David Lloyd. The earliest Courts of 
Upland County of which we have the 
records, were held at his house, and 
subsequently at the "House of defence," 
which was built on his land, where, 
doubtless, the Courts under the Pro- 
prietary government were for some time 
held. He kept a kind of tavern, and 
entertained the Justices of the Upland 
Court, a service which he had also 
performed for the Justices of an earlier 
Court, the records of which are now 
lost. There is evidence that he acted 
as an arbitrator by appointment of this 
Court as early as 1673. As early as 
1668, in conjunction with Oele Raw- 
son, he purchased land on the east side 
of the river, which they had previously 
bought of the Indians. This noted 
Swede died in 1689, leaving a widow, 
'Anico, (Ann) and several sons, who 
were afterwards known by the name 
of Friend^ or had that name as an alias. 
The widow survived her husband till 
about the year 1724, when she died at 
the advanced age of 106 years. \_See 
file of 0. G. papers, office of the Clerk of 
Q. Sessions, West Chester.'] From this 
circumstance it may be concluded that 
Neels Laerson was a native of Sweden. 

Langham, Robert, was an early re- 
sident and owner of land in Chichester. 
He died early in 1708, leaving a wife 
and children. It does not appear that 
he was a Friend. 

Lawrence, David, with his wife Eli- 
nor and two or three children, emi- 
grated from Pencheston, Pembroke- 
shire, South Wales, in company with 
his father-in-law, Thomas Ellis, '^aud 
settled in Haverford township. He had 
witnessed the sufferings and persecu- 
tions of his father-in-law in his native 
land, and had come here with a mind 
and a will to maintain " the truth" in 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



4T7 



its purity. To this his life was devoted, 
and at his death he left a written testi- 
mony to his children, admonishing 
them to the same course of life that 
" gave him rest and peace with God,"' 
copies of which are still preserved 
among his descendants. His wife was 
also a devout and exemplary member 
of the Society of Friends. His children 
were, Daniel, Henry, Thomas, Marga- 
ret, Elinor and Rachel. Thomas inter- 
married with Sarah, and Henry with 
Ellen Williams, daughters of William 
Edward of Blockley, and Edward Wil- 
liam, a son of William Edward, mar- 
ried Elinor Lawrence. Magaret inter- 
married with David Llewellyn. David 
Lawrence died in 1699. His wife sur- 
vived him many years. 

Lee, or Lea, John, the son of John 
Lea, glover, of Christian Malford, in the 
county of Wilts, England, learned the 
trade of a woolcomber. He became a 
preacher among Friends, but at what 
time is not known. In 1698, he mar- 
ried Hannah Webb, a widow, of the 
city of Gloucester, and in>1700 he mi- 
grated to Pennsylvania, and after re- 
maining about a year in Philadelphia, 
settled in Concord township. His cer- 
tificate was from Naylesworth Quar- 
terly Meeting in Gloucester county. He 
was held in high estimation as a minis- 
ter, and frequently made religious visits 
to distant places ; sometimes in com- 
pany with Thomas Chalkley. The lat- 
ter speaks of him as a " living, ser- 
viceable minister of the gospel of 
Christ." He died in 1726. So far as 
is known, his children were, Isaac, 
Hannah, John and Rachel. 

Leiper, Thomas, by birth a Scotch- 
man, at the age of nineteen immigrated 
to Port Tobacco in Maryland, upon the 
invitation of an elder brother. Dr. James 
Leiper, who had settled at or near that 
place. Here he was placed in the large 
mercantile house of a Mr. Sample, 
where he no doubt acquired the busi- 
ness qualifications for which he was 
afterwards noted. After he arrived at 
age he accepted an invitation from 
Gavin Hamilton to join him in the to- 
bacco business in Philadelphia. After 
some time the partnership was dis- 
solved, and Mr. Leiper set up the busi- 
ness for himself. Tlie Revolution broke 
out, and the leading house in Philadel- 



phia in the snufF business being inter- 
dicted, a fine opening was presented 
for Mr. Leiper, and enabled him to make 
his fortune. He warmly espoused the 
cause of the Colonies at the commence- 
ment of hostilities, and united himself 
with the "first city troop," and became 
its orderly sergeant, treasurer and sec- 
retary. When General Washington 
was almost on the eve of disbanding 
the army for want of supplies, he, 
with Robert Morris, Blair McClanagan 
and others, subscribed a large sum of 
money to supply the deficiency. Tho- 
mas Leiper was the warm friend of 
Jefferson, and a firm adherent of the 
Democratic party. His mills and his 
quarries were in Delaware County, but 
his residence was mostly in Philadel- 
phia, where for many years he was 
president of the Common Council. He 
was a man of much public spirit and 
^energy of chai-acter, and exerted him- 
self in promoting the improvement of 
the State. He subscribed as much as 
$100,000 in the stock of various turn- 
pikes, canals, &c., from which he could 
expect but little return. His wife was 
EUzabeth, the eldest daughter of George 
Gray, a lady of excellent character and 
great worth. He died in the year 1825 
in the eightieth year of his age. 

Lester. Peter, settled in Springfield 
township as early as 1684. In 1685 
he married Mary Duncalf of Chester 
Meeting, and in 1686 he served the 
ofiice of constable for the then newly 
organized township of Springfield. The 
family probably removed, as the name 
disappears from the records of the 
meetings within our limits. 

Levis, Samuel, with his wife Eliza- 
beth and one child, migrated from 
Hanby, County of Leicester, England, 
in 1684, and settled in Sprinfield town- 
ship. Before leaving England, he in 
conjunction with William Garrett, pur- 
chased 1000 acres of land, part of 
which was located where he first set- 
tled, and is still in the family name. 
In less than two years after his arrival 
in the country he represented the 
County of Chester in the Provincial 
Assembly, and was frequently elected 
to the same oSice subsequently He 
was also for some time a Justice of the 
Court of Chester County. But notwith- 
standing the frequency of his civil en- 



478 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



gagements, he did not neglect his re- 
ligious duties, being ever ready to do 
his share in promoting order and dis- 
cipline in the Society of Friends, of 
which he was a zealous member. His 
children were Samuel, Mary, William, 
Elizabeth, Christopher and Sarah. Sam- 
uel intermarried with Hannah Stretch 
of Philadelphia, and Mary with Joseph 
Pennock, son of Christopher Pennock. 
The latter marriage was accomplished 
before two Justices of the Court in 
17U5, at the residence of the bride's 
father, Joseph Pennock not being in 
membership with Friends. William 
removed to Kennet, and married Eliza- 
beth Read of that neighborhood, and 
became eminent as a preacher amongst 
Friends ; and Sarah intermarried with 
John, the son of George Maris, of 
Springfield. For a further account of 
Elizabeth see Elizabeth Shipley. Samuel 
Levis the immigrant, died at an ad- 
vanced age in the year 1728. See 
William Garrett. 

Lewis, Henry, with his wife Mar- 
garet and family, came from the parish 
of Narbeth, in the County of Pembroke, 
Wales, and settled in Haverford town- 
ship in 1682. By trade he was a car- 
penter. As a member of the Society 
of Friends, he w»s strict in the per- 
formance of his religious duties, and 
during the short period he lived, after 
reaching his new home, he devoted 
much of his time to civil affairs and 
acts of benevolence. Before the estab- 
lishmeni of Haverford Meeting, in 1684, 
he belonged to Philadelphia Monthly 
Meeting, and was by that body ap- 
pointed one of a committee " to visit 
the poor and the sick, and administer 
what they should judge convenient, at 
the expense of the monthly meeting." 
He held the office of "peacemaker" for 
the County of Philadelphia, and was 
foreman ot the first grand jury for that 
County, Haverford and Radnor at that 
time being regarded as belonging to 
Philadelphia. He died in 1688, leaving 
his wife and three children, Henry, 
Samuel and Elizabeth, all born in 
Wales, to survive him. Henry inter- 
married with Mary, the daughter of 
Robert Taylor of Springfield, Elizabeth 
with Richard Hayes of Haverford, but 
it is not known that Samuel married. 
The second Henry became a man of 
considerable note, was a member of the 



Assembly in 1715 and 1718, and was 
employed in other public trusts. His 
descendants are numerous, and many 
of them have been remarkable for in- 
tellectual superiority. The most noted 
was the late Enoch Lewis, the mathe- 
matician. The elder Henry Lewis had 
been a pecuniary sufferer in his native 
country on account of his religion. 

Lewis, Ralph, with his wife Mary 
and family, emigrated from the parish 
of Ulan, in Glamorganshire, and came 
over in company with John Bevan in 
1683 or 1684, and settled in Haverford. 
He was a member of the Society of 
Friends by convincement, and the cer- 
tificate brought with him attests the ex- 
cellence of his character and the in- 
nocency of his life. His children who 
survived him were Mary, who inter- 
married with James, and Lydia, who 
intermarried with Joseph Sharpless, 
both sons of the immigrant John 
Sharpless, Abraham, who intermarried 
with Mary, daughter of Anthony Mor- 
gan, Thomas, who intermarried with 
Jane, daughter of Rees Meridith of 
Radnor, Sarah, who intermarried with 
William, son of Richard Walters 'of 
Merion, and Samuel intermarried with 
Phebe, daughter of Josiah Taylor of 
MarjDle. Ralph Lewis died about 1710, 
and his wife six years earlier. 

Lewis, John, came fropi Pembroke- 
shire, Wales, and with his wife Eliza- 
beth, and family, settled in Haverford 
in 1683. As a member of the Society 
of Friends he was active and influ- 
ential. He died in 1704, leaving his 
wife and one son and two daughters, 
viz : John, Elizabeth and Margaret to 
survive him. Elizabeth intermarried 
with John, the son of Daniel Reece of 
Newtown, and John with Sarah Price of 
Merion. The children of the latter mar- 
riage were Elizabeth, Philip, Stephen 
and Josiah. John Lewis had suffered 
a share of the persecution that was 
waged against the Quakers, before 
leaving his native country. 

Lewis, William, with his wife, Ann, 
came from the parish of Ulan, in Gla- 
morganshire, Wales, about, the year 
1686, and settled in the northeastern 
part of Haverford township. He was 
a brother of Ralph Lewis. Their son, 
David, was married to Ann Jones, of 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



479 



Merion, in 1695. William Lewis re- 
moved to Newtown, where he and his 
wife died in the earlj part of 1708, 
within a few days of each other. They 
were both members of the religious 
Society of Friends ; William being fre- 
quently called upon in the administra- 
tion of the affairs of his meeting. Be- 
sides his son, David, who settled on the 
mansion tract in Haverford, Wm. Lewis 
had three sons, viz. : Lewis, Evan and 
William, and one daughter. Seaborn. 
Lewis married Mary Howell, of Bristol; 
Evan, Mary, the daughter of Jonathan 
and Ann Hayes, of Marple, and Wil- 
liam, Gwen Jones, of Gwynedd. Evan 
died in 1735, and William, the younger, 
in 1731. The daughter was born in 
1686, at sea, and hence the name. All 
the sons but David settled in Newtown. 

Lewis, Ellis, was born in Wales 
about the year 1680. His father dying 
while he was quite young, his mother 
married Owen Roberts. They all ap- 
pear to have been Quakers, and about 
the year 1698 made arrangements for 
migrating to Pennsylvania. They had 
proceeded so far as to forward their 
goods, but severe sickness of the family 
obliged them to remain. After being 
restored to health they did not carry 
out their original design, bat removed 
to Mount Molock, Ireland, where they 
resided till 1708, when Ellis obtained a 
certificate from the meeting at that 
place and came to Pennsylvania. Be- 
ing a Welshman he met with a kind re- 
ception from the Welsh Friends of Ha- 
verford. a number of whom were pro- 
bably his relatives. The next year 
(1709) he removed within the bounds 
of Concord Meeting, and in 1713 was 
married to Elizabeth, the daughter of 
Nathaniel Newlin. In 1716 he removed 
to Kennet, and, his wife dying in 1723, 
he some time afterwards married Mary 
Baldwin. In 1749 he removed to Wil- 
mington and died the next year, aged 
seventy years. He is said to have been 
a man of good understanding, and was 
frequently concerned in settling differ- 
ences amongst his neighbors. The 
Hon. Ellis Lewis, formerly Chief Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 
vania, is said to be descended from him. 

Lewis, William, born in Edgmont 
in 1751, was the grandson or great- 
grandson of the immigrant tUilph 



Lewis. He studied law in Philadelphia 
with Nicholas Wain, who, at that time, 
had an extensive practice. About the 
time he was admitted to the bar, Ni- 
cholas Wain gave up the practice of 
the law from conscientious scruples, 
and being selected by his preceptor to 
close up his business with his clients, 
young Lewis at once fell into a good 
share of business, which his ability and 
success at the bar soon greatly in- 
creased. He was several times a mem- 
ber of the Assembly, and was also a 
member of the convention that formed 
the constitution of 1790. It is said that 
he was frequently consulted by govern- 
ment officials during Washington's Ad- 
ministration. He had a birthright with 
the Quakers, and preserved his connec- 
tion with that Society while he lived, 
though his actions were not always en- 
tirely Quakerish. He died in 1819, aged 
sixty-eight years. 

Lewis, Enoch, the son of Evan 
Lewis and Jane, his second wife, whose 
maiden name was Meredith, was born 
in Radnor township, on the 29th of 
January, 1776. His early training was 
strictly in conformity with the princi- 
ples and practices of the Society of 
Friends, of which his father was a de- 
voted member. At an early age he 
exhibited a remarkable talent for ma- 
thematics, and although his opportu- 
nities for obtaining an education had 
only been such as were afforded by the 
common schools of the neighborhood, 
at the age of fourteen years he had 
acquired sufficient knowledge to be 
employed, advantageously, as an as- 
sistant teacher in one of those schools. 
One year later he taught a country 
school as principal ; the gravity of his 
manners, and the acknowledged supe- 
riority of his acquirements, enabling 
him to command the respect of pupils 
even older than himself. In 1793 he 
repaired to Philadelphia for the pur- 
pose of pursuing his mathematical 
studies, but was obliged to occupy a 
part of each day in teaching to procure 
the means for his support. Towards 
the close of the next year he became a 
resident of the city, and in 1795 was 
employed as surveyor in laying out 
several town plots in the western part 
of the State, in pursuance of an act of 
Assembly. From Ilj96 to 1^99 he had 
charge of the mathematical department 



480 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



of Friends' Academy in Philadelphia, 
but returned to Radnor to reside early 
in the latter year. On the 9lh of the 
5th month, 1799, he married Alice, the 
daughter of Isaac and Hannah Jackson 
of New Garden, Chester County, and, 
in the following year, removed to 
Westown Boarding-school, then re- 
cently established by the Yearly Meet- 
ing of Philadelphia, where he had 
charge of the mathematical department 
till 1808, when he established a private 
boarding-school in New Garden. This 
school, in which mathematics was a 
primary study, was continued in suc- 
cessful operation many years. About 
the year 1819 he published an Arith- 
metic. This was soon followed by a 
work on Algebra, and one on Plane and 
Spherical Trigonometry. For a time he 
edited a periodical called the "African 
Observer." He was author of the Life 
of William Penn, contained in the 
'' Friends' Library ;" of a treatise " On 
Oaths;" one " On Baotism;" a review 
of Dr. Cox's " Quakerism not Chris- 
tianity," and other pamphlets. In 1847 
he engaged in the publication of the 
" Friends' Review,'' which he continued 
to edit till his death, July 14th, 1856. 

Llewellyn, Morris, was born at 
Castlebith, Pembrokeshire, South 
Wales, in the year 1645, and his wife, 
Ann, whose maiden name was Young, 
was born two years later. They mi- 
grated about the year 1686, to Penn- 
sylvania, and settled in the nox'thwest 
part of Haverford township. Morris 
had suffered persecution in his native 
country by distraint for the payment of 
tithes. They were exemplarj^ members 
of the Society of Friends, Morris being 
frequently entrusted with responsible 
appointments by the meeting. Their 
children were David, Mary, Morris and 
GriflBlth — all born in Wales, except the 
last named. David intermarried in 
1706 with Margaret Lawrence, of Ha- 
verford, and, after her decease, with 
Margaret Ellis, of Gwynedd, and Mor- 
ris with Elizabeth Thomas of Merion. 

Lock, Lawrence Charles, (Lauren- 
tius Carolus Lokenius,) who ofiSciated 
many years on the Delaware River as 
the clergyman of the Swedish congre- 
gations, came over during the adminis- 
tration of Governor Printz. He was, 
doubtless, persecuted during the Dutch 



ascendancy on the river, but it cannot 
be truthfully said that he led such a 
faultless life as became his sacred call- 
ing. After the English obtained pos- 
session of the river, his temporal af- 
fairs rapidly improved. In 1675 he had 
surveyed to him 350 acres of land 
" where OUa Stille hath formerly 
dwelt," and he also became the owner 
of a large tract of land in, or very near 
the town of Upland (Chester), where 
he probably resided some time, parti- 
cularly when he had charge of Chris- 
tiana and Tinicum churches. It is said 
that he died in 168§. 

LoNGWORTHY, JoHN, though not a 
Welshman, fixed his place of abode at 
a very early date, in the midst of the 
Welsh Colonists of Radnor, and soon 
became a large landholder there He 
was, however, in membership with the 
Quakers, and in 1683 was married to 
Jane Cool of Chester Monthly Meeting. 
Their children, so far as is known, were 
John and Benjamin, the former of 
whom, in 1711, intermarried with 
Margaret the daughter of Rowland 
Richard, and a year afterwards, the 
elder John was married to a second 
wife named Jane Engiebert. 

LowNES, Jane, an original purchaser 
of land in England, came from Cheshire, 
where she had suffered persecution in 
the distraint of her goods in 1678, for 
attending Friends' meeting at Newton 
and Selsby. She was the widow of 
Hugh Lownes, and was accompanied 
to this country by three sons, James, 
George and Joseph. James married 
Susannah Richard, in 1692 and George, 
Mary Bowers, a woman from New 
England, in 1701. Jane, on her first 
arrival, located her purchased land in 
Springfield township, upon which a 
cave was built that for some time ac- 
commodated the family as a dwelling. 
The site of this cave is marked by a 
stone planted by her descendants in 
1799, which bears the date of the 
patent for the land (1685.) The meet- 
ting records show the presence of Jane 
Lownes here, in May, 1684, and she 
probably had arrived a year earlier. It 
was usual to occupy lands a long time 
before they were patented. 

Lloyd, David, a Welshman, and one 
of the most eminent of the early set- 




^^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



481 



tiers of Pennsylvania, arrived at Phila- 
delphia in 1686, and at first settled in 
that city, where he married Grace 
Growden a most estimable lady. By 
profession he was a lawyer, and Wil- 
liam Penn being well acquainted with 
his abilities and legal attainments, 
commissioned him the same year as 
Attorney General of the Province. 
He was greatly in advance of his age, 
in his views of good govei'nraent, 
and particularly in a correct compre- 
hension of the rights of the governed. 
These he advocated with so much, zeal 
and abilitj', that he rarely failed in 
carrying his point. In opposing what 
were then called, " the proprietary 
interests," but what often were nothing 
more than proprietafy pretensions^ he 
acquired the reputation, particularly 
with those in interest with the govern- 
ment, of being perverse and factious as 
a politician, but time has served to 
correct that judgment, for the instances 
are few indeed, where the positions 
assumed and the arguments advanced 
by him, would not be fully sustained 
and approved by the present age. 
His integrity and abilities were never 
questioned. 

Besides the office of Attorney Gene- 
ral, he was Deputy Register General 
under his Welsh friend, Thomas Ellis ; 
Deputy or Clerk of the Master of Rolls ; 
was frequently a member of the As- 
sembly, and speaker of thai body. In 
1717 he received the appointment of 
Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and con- 
tinued to hold thatoflSce till his death. 
As a Quaker, David Lloyd was zealous 
and consistent, frequent in his atten- 
dance at the meetings of that Society, 
and sometimes appearing in the minis- 
try. The Welsh Friends, whose meet- 
ings he sometimes visited, submitted 
difficult questions arising in church 
matters to his final determination. In 
his family " he was exemplary ; treating 
all about him with humanity, and 
choosing rather to be loved than feared." 

In '691, he purchased a large tract 
of land at Chester, embracing a con- 
siderable portion of what is now the 
improved part of the borough, but he 
did not remove to that place till about 
the year 1700. His only dwelling-house 
at Chester, now known as " the Com- 
modore Porter house" was built by 
himself. He left no children, and few 
relatives in this country. He died in 

31 



1731, aged seventy-five years. His 
wife survived him twenty-nine years. 
The remains of both repose in Friends' 
burial ground at Chester. 

Lucas, Robert, one of the Justices of 
the Court of Upland County, under the 
administration of Governor Markham, 
before the arrival of William Penn, set- 
tled up the Delaware, in what is now 
Bucks County. He probably arrived 
with the settlers of Burlington, N. J. 

Maddock, Mordecai, wns the oldest 
son of Henry Maddock of Loom Hall, 
Cheshire, England. In 1681, Henry 
and his brother-in-law James Kenerly, 
purchased 1500 acres of land in Penn- 
sylvania, and arrived here some time 
before the Proprietary, in 1682. In 
1683, part of this joint purchase, sup- 
posed to be 800 acres, but really more 
than 1100 acres, was located in Spring- 
field adjoining Ridley, and James 
established his residence upon it. In 
a few years afterwards James died, 
leaving his share of the joint purchase 
to his nephew, the subject of this notice, 
and shortly afterwards, his father 
Henry, who returned to England, con- 
veyed the other half to him. Mordecai 
appears to have made a visit to Penn- 
sylvania about the year 1687, and re- 
mained here for some time, but returned 
to England, and it was not till 1701, 
that he returned with his family, 
and fixed his permanent home on his 
estate. He was in membership with 
Friends. 

Malin, Randal, with his wife Eliza- 
beth, from Great Barrum in Cheshire, 
England, arrived in 1682 or 1683, and 
fixed their residence in Upper Provi- 
dence. They were both active and in- 
fluential members of the Society of 
Friends, meetings being sometimes held 
at their house. Elizabeth died in 1687, 
leaving two sons, Isaac and Jacob. 
Randal was married a second time in 
1693, to Mary Conway, daughter of 
Valentine Hollingsworth of Newcastle 
County, by whom he had two daugh- 
ters, Hannah and Rachel. His death 
occurred about the year 1703. For 
making a prayer in a meeting in his 
native country, Randal Malin was fined 
£20 5s, for which distre^^.was made of 
his household goods, com ^and hay. 
(Besse. i. 107.) "%?#> 



482 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Nixon, John, was settled in Ridley 
as early as 1683, was a member of 
Friends' Meeting, but took little or no 
interest in the affairs of the Society. 
But little is known in respect to him. 

Maris, George, emigrated from the 
parish of Inkborough in the County of 
Worcester, England, in 1683, with his 
wife Alice and several children. On 
his first arrival, he appears to have 
tarried for a short time with the Friends 
that had arrived the year before and 
settled at Darby, but he soon located a 
large tract of land in Springfield town- 
ship, whereon he settled and named it 
"The Home house." He was among 
the most eminent of the public Friends 
that came over with the first settlers, 
and was so esteemed in his native 
country, where meetings had been held 
at his house, and where he had suffered 
by fines and imprisonment. His certifi- 
cate, which is recorded at Darby says, 
" he hath adorned the Gospel of 
Christ." He held many public trusts : 
was a Justice of the Peace, one of the 
Judges of the Court, and on several 
occasions was chosen a member of the 
Provincial Assembly. He was one of 
those who signed the testimony against 
the celebrated George Keith. 

The descendants of this worthy patri- 
arch are numerous ; those bearing his 
name in this County, Chester County, 
and in the City of Philadelphia, are 
probably all descended from him. His 
death occurred in 1703, at the age of 
seventy-three years ; his wife having 
died nearly four years earlier. His 
children, so far as is known, were Eliza- 
beth who intermarried with John Men- 
denhall ; George, with Jane Maddock; 
Ann, with John Worrilow; John, with 
Susanna Lewis of Haverford, and Rich- 
ard, with Elizabeth Hayes of Marple. 

Markham, William, the cousin and 
the first Lieutenant Governor of William 
Penn, no doubt resided at Upland 
(Chester,) from the time of his arrival 
till the City of Philadelphia was laid 
out, and suitable accommodations were 
provided there. He was not a Quaker, 
but seems to have been rather a military 
man, as he is called captain, and some- 
times colonel. He emigrated from 
London, and it is said he was but 
twenty-one years of age when he 
arrived here. He continued to reside 



in Pennsylvania till his death, which 
happened in 1704, when he resided in 
Front Street, Philadelphia. His will 
shows that he was the owner of several 
slaves, which, with the chief part of his 
property, he bequeathed to his wife. 
One of his slaves was an Indian boy, 
named Ectus Frankson, born in 1700, 
whom he manumitted at the age of 
twenty-four, unless his wife by a special 
deed, should direct him to be held in 
servitude. He had no son, and only 
speaks of one daughtei*. 

Marshall, John, emigrated from 
Elton, in Derbyshire, England, in 1687, 
and probably at first settled in Block- 
ley township, Philadelphia County, 
but within the verge of Darby Friends' 
meeting, of which he was an attentive 
member. In 1688 he married Sarah 
Smith, of Darby, their marriage being 
the first that was solemnized at' the 
first meeting-house built at that place. 
Their children were John, William and 
Thomas. He died in 1729. 

Marshall, Abraham, was born about 
the year 1669, at Gratton, Derbyshire, 
England, and emigrated to America in 
the year 1700, fixing upon Darby, at 
first, as his place of residence. Con- 
vinced by the preaching of John Grat- 
ton, at the early age of sixteen, and 
" carefully abiding under the discipline 
of the cross," he had, before leaving 
England, a few words in the ministry, 
which, in the language of his certificate, 
" were received as from a babe in the 
Truth." Late in the autumn of 1701, 
with the approbation of Darby Monthly 
Meeting, he united with Vincent Cald- 
well in making a religious visit to 
Maryland. In January, 1703, he was 
married to Mary, the daughter of James 
Hunt, of Kingsessing, and in 1707 re- 
moved to the forks of the Brandywine, 
where he purchased large tracts of 
land among the Indians, and where his 
son Humphrey, who afterwards became 
noted as a botanist, was born ; he being 
the eighth of nine children. His death 
occurred in December, 1767, at the 
advanced age of ninety-eight years ; 
his wife surviving him less than two 
years. She was born in Kent, Eng- 
land ; came to this country with her 
father a young child, about the year 
1684, and was eighty-seven years of 
age at the time of her decease. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



483 



Martin, Walter, was a resident of 
Marcus Hook before the arrival of 
William Penn, in 1682, and was the 
owner of a large tract of land on Naa- 
man's Creek, which had been pur- 
chased in England. He appears to 
have been a man of good standing, but 
somewhat eccentric. It is not certain 
that he was a member of any religious 
denomination, but he appears to have 
held in veneration certain church ordi- 
nances and doctrines that were re- 
garded by the Quakers as outward 
ceremonies, or that were wholly re- 
pudiated by them. This will be seen 
in his grant or free gift for a burying- 
place, &",., mentioned elsewhere. But 
still it does not appear that he had any 
unkind feelings towards the Quakers, 
for in 1684 he married Jane, the dau- 
ghter of Joseph Bushell, who was a 
Quaker, and by his will he entrusted the 
administration of his estate to two 
Quakers — Nicholas Pyle and Daniel 
Williamson. He may have resided for 
a time, on his Naaman's Creek pur- 
chase, but his general place of resi- 
dence was Marcus Hook. He died in 
1719, and was buried in the lot re- 
served out of his "free gift," which 
now constitutes St. Martin's church- 
yard. Massive stones that have re- 
cently been renovated, indicate the 
exact resting-place of his remains, one 
of which bears the following quaint 
inscription : 

" The just man lives in good men's love, 
And when he dies, he's bless'd above." 

Walter Martin emigrated from West- 
imnster, in the County of Middlesex, 
England. At the time of his death it 
does not appear that he had any male 
descendant living. 

Martin, John, was one of the early 
settlers in Middletown. He brought an 
approved certificate of membership 
with Friends from England, and in 
r696 was married, in accordance with 
the usages of that Society, to Gwen 
Morgan, of Concord Meeting. He died 
in 1719. He came from Edgcott, in 
the County of Berks, and was a pur- 
chaser of five hundred acres of land be- 
fore leaving England. 

[ Massey, Thomas, migrated to this 
country prior to 1687, and before he 
was of age. He probably resided within 
the bounds of Chester Monthly Meeting 



from the time of his arrival. In 1692 
he married Phebe, the daughter of 
Robert Taylor, of Springfield, and soon 
afterwards purchased a large tract of 
land in Marple, where he continued to 
reside while he lived. He died in 1708, 
in the forty-fifth year of his age, leaving 
seven children, viz., Esther, Mordecai, 
James, Hannah, Thomas, Phebe and 
Mary. The brick house erected by 
Thomas Massey is still standing in a 
good state of preservation. His widow 
intermarried with Bartholomew Co- 
pock, Jr , then a widower, in 1710. 
Mordecai remained on the mansion 
tract, but Thorhas and James settled 
in Willistown. 

Matson, Niels, or Neels, was an 
early Swedish settler, who owned 
and occupied a tract of land imme- 
diately on the southwest side of Crum 
Creek, extending to the Delaware, for 
which Governor Lovelace issued him a 
patent on the 10th of March, 1770. In 
1773 he served as an arbitrator by ap- 
pointment of the then Upland Court, in 
a controversy about land in Kingses- 
sing. It was Margaret, the wife of this 
man, who figured as defendant in the 
only trial for witchcraft that ever oc- 
curred in Pennsylvania. From the tes- 
timony in that trial, it may be inferred 
that this persecuted couple had resided 
in the country at least twenty years 
prior to the date of the trial, (1683.) 
In 1678, Neels Matson conveyed to 
James Sandelands, two lots in Upland, 
for which he had received a patent 
from Governor Richard NicoUs in 1668. 

McClellan, Joseph, the eldest of 
eight children of James and Martha 
McClellan, was born in Middletown 
township, in 1747. In 1770 the family 
removed to Sadsbury township, Chester 
County. At the breaking out of the Re- 
volution Joseph resolved to engage ac- 
tively in the service of his country. It is 
said that he was induced to take this 
step, or at least confirmed in his resolu- 
tion, by a sermon preached to the young 
men of his neighborhood by the Rev. Mr. 
Foster,at Octoraro Presbyterian Church, 
on their duty to their country, in the 
trying emergency that was then pre- 
sented. As Joseph was nearly thirty 
years of age, and a man of great firm- 
ness, it may be presumed that he acted 
on his own deliberate judgment. Im- 



484 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



mediately upon entering the service, he 
received the appointment of lieutenant 
in Captain Abraham Marshall's com- 
pany of musketeers, and shortly after- 
vrards, (15th of July, 1116,) was ap- 
pointed captain in the room of Captain 
Marshall, who resigned. This com- 
pany belonged to Colonel Atlee's batta- 
lion ; but Captain McClellan was soon 
after transferred to the 9th regiment of 
the Pennsylvania line, to serve during 
the war, where he remained till a short 
time before his resignation, in June, 
1781, when he had been attached to 
the second regiment. 

Captain McClellan' was generally 
joined to the main body of the ai'my, 
and shared all its privations and hard- 
ships — was at the battles of Long 
Island, Brandywine and Monmouth, 
and on all occasions did his whole 
duty, as the following extract from an 
endorsement on his commission by 
General Anthony Wayne fully testifies : 

" It is a duty which I owe to justice 
and merit to declare that the conduct of 
Capt. McClellan iij)on every occasion, 
has been that of a brave, active and 
vigilant officer, which will ever recom- 
mend him to the attention of his 
country, and the esteem of his fellow- 
citizens. Given at Camp this 13th of 
June 1781. 

"Anty Wayne B. G." 

This endorsement was made at the 
time of Captain McClellan's resignation 
from the army, when there was no im- 
perious necessity for remaining longer 
in service, and when his presence at 
home was greatly needed by reason of 
the age and infirmity of his parents. 
In 1786 he married Keziah, the daugh- 
ter of Joseph Parke, Esq., and shortly 
after removed upon a farm within the 
present limits of West Chester. He 
served the several offices of Commis- 
sioner, Sheriff, and Lieutenant of Ches- 
ter County, the latter with the rank of 
colonel; he was the first President of 
the Bank of Chester County, and at 
the time of the whiskey insurrection, 
raised a troop of horse for its sup- 
pression. His death occurred in 1834, 
at the age of eighty-seven years, and ten 
years after he had had the felicity of 
meeting his old commander, Genei'al 
La Fayette, on the ground of the battle 
of Brandywine. 



Medlicot, Daniel, brought a certifi- 
cate from the monthly meeting of Salop, 
in Shropshire, and at first settled in 
Philadelphia, where in the latter part 
of the year 1684, he was married ac- 
cording to the usages of Friends, to 
Martha Sankey. Shortly after his mar- 
riage he settled among the Welsh 
Friends of Haverford, where he died in 
1697, leaving but one child, Mary. His 
wife also brought her certificate from 
Salop meeting. 

Mendenhall, Moses, was a brother 
of John and Benjamin Mendenhall, and 
doubtless came from the same place in 
England. In 1686, he was a resident 
of Concord, and purchased land from 
his brother Benjamin. It does not ap- 
pear that he was a Friend. He re- 
turned to England where his descen- 
dants now reside. 

Mendenhall, Benjamin, came from 
England in 1686, probably in company 
with his brother John. They came 
from a town of Suffolk called Milden- 
hall, that being the original family 
name. In 1689, he was married to 
Ann, the daughter of Robert Pennell, 
in Chichester Friends' meeting, of 
which they were both members. Their 
children were, Benjamin, Moses, Han- 
nah, Samuel, Rebecca, Ann, Nathan 
and Robert. By trade he was a wheel- 
wright. He was a man held in good 
esteem both in his religious society and 
as a citizen. In 1714 he served as a 
member of the Provincial Assembly, 
and died in 1740 at an advanced age, 
while his wife Ann was still living. - 
Their son Benjamin mari'ied Lydia, the 
daughter of Owen Roberts, of Gwynedd, 
and his son Robert, Phebe, the daugh- 
ter of Isaac Taylor, of Thornbury. 
Their daughter Hannah became the 
wife of Thomas Marshall, and Ann, the 
second wife of John Bartram, the bota- 
nist. 

Mendenhall, John, was a brother of 
Benjamin and Moses Mendenhall, and 
doubtless came from the same place in 
England. (See notice of Benjamin.) 
He was one of the earliest settlers in 
Concord, and in 1685 was married to 
Elizabeth, the daughter of George Ma- 
ris, of Springfield township. He was 
a Friend, and was active and influen- 
tial in the Society. In 1697, he grant- 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



485 



ed the ground occupied by Concord 
Friends' meeting-house and grave-yard. 
In 1708. his wife being deceased, he 
contracted a second marriage with Hes- 
ter Dix. He was one of the original 
shareholders of the first Concord mill. 
His children by his first wife were, 
George, John and Aaron. It is not 
known that he had any by his second 
wife. 

Meridith, David, came from the pa- 
rish of Llanbister, Eadnorshire, Wales, 
in 1683 or 1684, and settled in Radnor 
township. His name appears on the 
minutes of the monthly meeting earlier 
than that of any other Radnor Friend. 
He was accompanied to this country by 
his wife Katharine and their five child- 
ren — Richard, Mary, John, Meridith 
and Sarah. Katharine died in 1688, 
and in 1690 he was married to Mary 
Jones, a widow, of Upper Providence, as 
his second wife, by whom he probably 
had no children. He had been a Friend 
twenty years in his native land. The 
time of his decease is not known ; but 
from tlie circumstance of his name dis- 
appearing from the minutes of his meet- 
ing in 1695, it is supposed that it oc- 
curred about that period. He had 
suffered imprisonment in Wales on ac- 
count of his religious principles. 

Miles, Richard, was one of the 
Welsh purchasers of land from Richard 
Davies, in Wales, in 1682. He was a 
resident of Radnorshire, and probably 
emigrated shortly after his purchase, 
and located his land in Radnor town- 
ship, where he settled. He was a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends, and in 
1688 intermarried with Sarah, the 
daughter of liis Welsh Quaker neigh- 
bor, John Evan. He died' in 1713, 
leaving his wife Sarah and children — 
Richard, James, Evan, John, Jane, Sa- 
rah and Abigail to survive him. 

Miles, Samuel, with his wife Marga- 
ret, emigrated from Radnorshire, in 
Wales, in 1683, and at first settled in 
Philadelpliia. As early as 1686, and 
perhaps earlier, they had removed to 
Radnor township. They were in mem- 
bership witli Friends, but their names 
are not frecj[uently connected with the 
business affairs of the Society. Their 
children were Tamar and Phebe. Sa- 
muel died in 1708. Tamar intermarried 



with Thomas, the son of William Tho- 
mas, of Radnor, and Phebe with Evan, 
the son of Owen Evans, of Gwynedd. 

Miles, Griffith, an early Welsh 
Quaker colonist of Radnor. After his 
marriage witli Bridget Edwards, of the 
same township, in 1692, his name dis- 
appears from tlie records. 

Miller, Henry, with his wife Sarah 
and several children, emigrated from 
the parish of Dunster, Somerset county, 
England, in 1714, and settled in Upper 
Providence. He had previously lived 
in the parish of Bradnich, in the 
county of Devon, where, in the year 
1704, his son John was born. A 
daughter, Dorothy, and a son, Henry, 
were also born in the same par- 
ish. His son George, father of the 
late George Miller, was born in Upper 
Providence in 1716. Henry Miller, by 
trade, was a manufacturer, and after 
his arrival here he had a small manu- 
facturing establishment, at which he 
made serges, camlets, &c. He also 
kept a store for the sale of these and 
other articles. He was strict in his re- 
ligious duties as a member of the So- 
ciety of Friends, and for some years was 
the Clerk of Chester Monthly meeting. 
In 1717, three years after his arrival in 
the country, he was a representative 
from Chester County in the Provincial 
Assembly. Henry died in 1730, and 
his wife the next year. 

MiNSHALL, Thomas, with his wife 
Margaret, came from Stoak, County 
Palatine of Chester, England, and ar- 
rived in 1682, having had the mis- 
fortune to lose a daughter on the 
passage. Thomas Minshall was one of 
the original purchasers of land in Eng- 
land, part of which he located in Nether 
Providence, his dwelling being near 
the meeting-house, which was erected 
on land given by him for the purpose. 
He was an active and influential mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends, and it 
was from the meetings held at his 
house that Providence meeting had its 
origin. Margaret died in 1727, in her 
seventy-fifth year, leaving Thomas to 
survive her. Their children, so far as 
is known, besides the one above men- 
tioned, were Isaac, who married Re- 
becca, daughter of Dr. Griffith Owen 
of Philadelphia, Jacob, who married 



486 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Sarah, another daughter of Dr. Owen, 
Rebecca and Moses. 

Morgan, James, was probably a son 
of John Morgan, who settled early in 
Radnor, and was a large landholder. 
In 1694 he was married to Elizabeth 
Prythereth, the daughter of Evan Pry- 
thereth, also of Radnor. They were 
Friends, and doubtless both had emi- 
grated from Wales while children. 

Morgan, Anthony, emigrated from 
Cardiff, in Glamorganshire, Wales, in 
1689, accompanied by his wife Eliza- 
beth and only child Mary. They at 
first, it is believed, settled for a time 
on a small tract of land on the west 
side of Cobb's Creek, some distance 
above the Blue Bell, but in the year 
1700 removed to a larger tract in what 
is now Upper Darby. In 1707 his 
daughter was married to Abraham, the 
son of Ralph Lewis of the same town- 
ship. Through life he remained in full 
unity with the Society of Friends, but 
was never active in the business trans- 
actions of their meetings. He died at 
an advanced age in 1732, and his wife 
a little before him the same year. 

Morgan, Owen, with his wife Jannie, 
came from the parish of Machanlleth, 
in Montgomeryshire, Wales, in 1684, 
and settled in Haverford. He was a 
man of limited means, and appears to 
have owned no land in Haverford. He 
was a Friend in good standing. After 
the death of his wife, he, in 1694, 
married Blanche, the widow of William 
Sharpus, and removed to Newtown, 
where he died in 1704. Blanche sur- 
vived him till 1717, at which time she 
appeared to be in easy circumstances. 

Morris, David, was a very early 
immigrant, and probably came from 
Wales. He resided for a time in 
Philadelphia, and was married to Mary 
Phillipin 3d mo. 4th, 1685, according 
to the usages of the Society of Friends, 
of which they were both members. 
This couple, about five years after their 
marriage, removed to Marple town- 
ship, and made a permanent settle- 
ment. Besides attending strictly to his 
religious duties, David exercised con- 
siderable influence in civil affairs. He 
was one of the projectors and owners 
of " Haverford new mill," and for some 



time had an interest in running it. 
His children were David, Isaac, Jona- ^T l"} 
than, Elizabeth and Mordecai. David • 
the elder died in 1720. 

Morris, Dr. Jonathan, son of Jona- 
than and Catharine Morris, and grand- 
son of the immigrant David Morris, 
was born in Marple township, Delaware 
County, on the I7ih of the 3d month, 
(May,) 1729. His mother was a 
daughter of Richard Moore of Radnor. 
Both parents were consistent members 
of the Society of Friends, as all his 
ancestors had been for two or three 
generations. It may therefore be rea- 
sonably concluded, that in his early 
training he was carefully guarded 
against any contamination from vice 
or immorality. It is not known that his 
preliminary school education, before 
entering upon the study of medicine, 
extended beyond what he acquired at 
the schools in the neighborhood, but 
his knowledge outside of his profession 
was greatly enlarged, by embracing 
opportunities that presented, while a 
student, and subsequently. 

About the year 1745, the subject of 
our notice w^as placed in the office of 
Dr. Thomas Bard of Philadelphia as a 
medical student. Before the com- 
pletion of his studies. Dr. Bard removed 
to New York, to which place he was 
accompanied by his student. There 
his opportunity for study was improved, 
particularly in acquiring a knowledge 
of surgery, as his preceptor had been 
placed in charge of the garrison hos- 
pital. 

After having completed his studies, 
about the year 1751, Dr. Morris re- 
turned to his native County, and com- 
menced the practice of his profession 
at Newtown Square. Here he became 
acquainted with Benjamin West, the 
painter, then quite a youth, and dis- 
cerning the genius of the young artist, 
purchased materials for him and aided 
him in preparing his colors. West, 
subsequently, but before leaving the 
country, painted a likeness of Dr. 
Morris, which, unfortunately, cannot 
now be found. General Wayne and 
Dr. Morris were " the first public 
patrons of the great artist." 

About the year 1756 Dr. Morris re- 
moved from Newtown Square to East 
Marlborough, and on the 15th of the 
12th month of the following year, he 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



487 



was married to Alice, the daughter of 
Cadwalader Evans of Edgmont. Their 
marriage was accomplished at the 
meeting-house at Middletown, accord- 
ing "to the good order" of the Society 
of Friends, of which society they both 
remained exemplary members during 
their lives. This marriage resulted in 
the mutual happiness of the parties 
during a period of more than sixty 
years. 

After his marriage. Dr. Morris re- 
moved to Marple township, and settled 
on the premises now owned and oc- 
cupied by Walter W. Green, where he 
resided till near the close of his life. 
It was here that his superior qualifi- 
cations as a physician, and particularly 
as a surgeon, became generally known, 
and secured for him as large a practice 
as the sparsely populated country could 
afford. 

From the early period at which Dr. 
Morris obtained his medical education, 
it might be supposed that his know- 
ledge was deficient, and that his prac- 
tice would, in a great measure, be 
empirical. This would be a serious 
mistake, for although he commenced 
his course of studies at the very dawn 
of correct medical science, several of 
the great lights of the profession had 
lived before him, or were then in the 
full tide of their successful careers, 
and his position in Philadelphia and 
New York, and his residence in the 
vicinity of the latter city, enabled him 
to avail himself of every new discovery. 
The true circulation of the blood, dis- 
covered by Harvey, was then well un- 
derstood, while it may be presumed 
that many of the discoveries of the two 
Hunters in Anatomy were promulgated 
during his student life, or shortly after- 
wards. 

He was a man of quick perception 
and close observation, and of course 
availed himself of the knowledge gained 
by experience, but his leaning was 
strong against empircism in any shape. 
In fact he was the father of the regular 
practice of medicine, vvithin the limits 
of this County. 

Dr. Morris was a man of the greatest 
humanity. The suffering poor were 
cared for equally with the rich. When 
the sound of cannon at the battle of 
Brandy wine reached the neighborhood, 
he at once repaired towards the scene 
of conflict, and in the vicinity of Con- 



cord meeting-house assisted the medical 
staff in the care of the wounded. 

Dr. Morris, in person, was under the 
ordinary stature, and apparently of a 
delicate frame, yet he enjoyed almost 
uninterrupted health to extreme old 
age. He possessed an unusual amount 
of both physical and mental activitj'', 
and but few men have evinced more 
decision of character. Though a re- 
ligious man, he had neither leisure nor 
taste for theological discussions, but he 
practiced in humility the Christian 
virtues — Love to God and good-will to 
men. 

Towards the close of his life he re- 
moved to Darby, where his wife died 
in 1818, aged eighty-three years. After 
her death he removed to the residence 
of his son in London Grove, where he 
died on the 7th of April, aged one 
month less than ninety years. 

Morton, John, whose name has been 
immortalized by his vote for the De- 
claration of Independence, was born in 
Ridley, Delaware County, in the year 
1*725, on the farm now owned by 
Charles Home. His father, whose 
name was John, was a son of Morton 
31orto7ison, but probably not the first of 
that name, and died before the birth of 
his only child, the subject of this no- 
tice. His mother was Mary, the 
daughter of William and Gertrude 
Archer, also of Ridley. In the will of 
John Morton, provision is made for his 
unborn child. John Sketchley, an 
Englishman, married the widow of the 
elder John Morton, but had no children 
by her to survive him. She was still 
living at the time of the decease of her 
second husband in 1753. 

In 1756 John Morton was elected a 
member of the Provincial Assembly, 
and was re-elected ten years consecu- 
tively to that office, till 1767, when he 
was elected Sherift' of Chester County 
for three years. In 1765 he was one of 
the representatives from Pennsylvania 
in the first American Congress held at 
New York. He was again sent to the 
Assembly from Chester County in 
1772, and continued in that office till 
1775, when he presided over that body 
as speaker. He also held the office of 
Justice of the Peace, and was one of 
the Justices of the Court many years. 
He was again a representative from 
Pennsylvania in Congress in 1774, and 



488 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



was continued a member till the me- 
morable meeting of that body in 1776. 
The part he took in securing the inde- 
pendence of the United States is fully 
given in the bodj- of this work. This 
was the last session he attended, for he 
died in April, 1777, aged fifty-three 
years. His body was interred in the 
grounds of St. Paul's Church, Chester, 
and over it a neat monument has been 
erected, upon which some of the facts 
stated above are inscribed, and also the 
following prophetic message, which 
was sent from his death bed to such of 
his friends as censured him for his 
boldness in giving the casting vote in 
favor of Independence; "Tell them 
that they will live to see the hour when 
they shall acknowledge it to have been 
the most glorious service that I have 
ever rendered to my country." 

MoRTONSON, Morton, was a native of 
Sweden, but was not among the ear- 
liest Swedish emigrants to the Dela- 
ware River. His residence was in 
Amosland, a little west of Muckinipat- 
tus creek, where he resided as early as , 
1672. Morton Mortonson, Jr., it isn' 
supposed, was his eldest son and im- 
migrated with him. He had two other 
sons, Andrew and John. Morton, jr., 
died in 1718. The elder Morton was 
living in 1693. 



Natlor, Robert, with his wife, Eliza- 
beth, migrated from Manyash, County 
of Derby, England, and settled in what 
is now Upper Darby township, in 1683. 
His dwelling was near A^aylor's Rim, and 
doubtless that stream derived its name 
from him. He had been married but 
a short time before leaving his native 
country. Their children, so far as is 
known, were only two — John and 
Elizabeth. Both Robert and Elizabeth 
were alive in 1707. They were both 
Quakers at the time of their arrival 
here. 

Need, Joseph, from Ai-nold, in the 
County of Nottingham, England, came 
to America in 1686, and settled in Dar- 
by, now Upper Darby township, west of 
Darby Creek. He was a iTiember of 
the Society of Friends, but was not 
very active in meeting affairs. In 
1693 he was married to Rebecca Hinde, 
by whom he had several children. His 
daughter, Rebecca, married John David 



(changed to Davis), in 1714, and his 
daughter, Ann, Nicholas Fred, of Bir- 
mingham, in 1720. Joseph Need died 
in 1741. 

NiELSON, Anthony, an early Swedish 
settler, who owned and occupied a 
tract of land, extending from Crum to 
Ridley Creek, about a mile from the 
river. His wife appears to have been 
the daughter of Margaret Matson, the 
only, person ever tried for witchcraft in 
Pennsylvania. 

Newlin, Nicholas, a gentleman in 
easy circumstances, with his wife and 
family, emigrated from ilountmelick, in 
the County of Tyrone, Ireland, in 1683. 
He had embraced the profession of 
Quakerism some time before, and, it is 
rather strongly intimated in his certi- 
ficate, that his reason for removal was 
" his fparfulness of suffering there for 
the testimou}^ of Jesus." Be that as it 
may, his conduct here showed him to 
be a man firm in the perfoi'mance of 
what he believed to be his duty under 
all circumstances, i He settled in Con- 
cord and built a mill there in very early 
times. For a time he served the county 
as one of the Justices of the Court. 
Meetings were held at his house as 
early as 1687. His two sons, Nathaniel 
and John, both unmarried, accompa- 
nied their father to this country. 

Newlin, N.athaniel, son of Nicholas 
Newlin, emigrated from Ireland with 
his father, and was of age at the time 
of his arrival here. In 1685 he mar- 
ried Mary Mendenhall, also an immi- 
grant, and a sister of Benjamin and 
John Mendenhall. He was a man of 
good abilities, and exercised consider- 
able influence, both in the meetings of 
the Friends and in the community at 
large. During seven years, at different 
times, he was a representative from 
Chester County in the Provincial As- 
sembly, and was frequently employed 
in other important trusts. He contin- 
ued to reside in Concord as long as he 
lived, and held a large amount of real 
estate there as well as elsewhere. A 
brick dwelling-house erected by him in 
1699, upon the site of the present 
dwelling of John Sharpless, was stand- 
ing till within a few years past. His 
children were Jemima, Elizabeth, Ni- 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



489 



cholas, Nathaaiel, John, Kezie and 
Mary. He died in 1731. 

NiELD, John", migrated from Cheshire> 
England, and settled in Aston town- 
ship as early as 1686. It is not certainly 
known that he was married at the time 
of his arrival, but if so, his wife must 
have died prior to 1695, for he was in 
that year married to Mary the widow 
of John Dutton. This lady being in 
membership with Friends, and John 
not being " in possession of the truth," 
she was brought into some trouble by 
the marriage, but it does not appear 
that she was " disowned." John was 
living in Aston in 1722. See Abraham 
Darlington. 

Noble, Richard, emigi-ated to 
America in 1675, with John Fenwick 
the founder of Salem, in the ship Grif- 
fith from London. In 1677, he was a 
taxable in Upland district, and on the 
15th of December, 1679, he was ap- 
pointed Surveyor of Upland County, 
by Sir Edmund Andros. At the first 
Court held under the Provincial Govern- 
ment, his name occurs as a juror. 
Though a Quaker, he did not take an 
active part in meeting affairs, nor did 
his residence long continue within our 
limits. 

NoRBERRY, Thomas, one of the very 
earliest settlers of Newtown, was mar- 
ried to Frances Hugh, widow, early in 
1685. She was doubtless the widow of 
Stephen Hugh of Springfield, who died 
in February, 1684. He was a Friend, 
but was not so fortunate in business as 
was usual with members of that Society, 
Their children were Jacob, Deborah, 
Thomas, John, Philip, Mary, Hannah 
and Sarah. 

NossiTER, Thomas, took up land and 
settled in Ridley in 1678. Though not 
a Quaker, he probably came to the 
Delaware in one of the early emigrant 
ships to West Jersey. He was a 
juror at the second Court under the 
Proprietary Government. 

Obern, Henry. As early as 1684, 
Administrators were appointed by the 
Chester Court, to administer the es- 
tate of William Obern, who had then 
recently died intestate. It is believed 



that the subject of this notice was a 
son of William, and emigrated from 
England with his father, being at that 
time quite young. Henry resided in 
Concord, was a member of Concord 
Monthly Meeting of Friends, and in 
1698, was married to Hannah Cook a 
member of the same Meeting. He 
appears to have been a man of energy 
and influence, and in 1717 was a rep- 
resentative from Chester County in the 
Provincial Assembly. Their children 
were Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, William, 
Hannah, Susanna and Ann. He was 
living in 1735. 

Ogdbn, David, came to this country 
in company with the Proprietary on 
board of the ship " Welcome" in 1682. 
He was in membership with Friends, 
and brought with him to Philadelphia, 
where .he first settled, a certificate from 
London, dated the 26th of the 11th mo. 
1681-2, and signed by several Friends 
of that city. In 1685, he obtained a 
certificate from the Meeting at Phila- 
delphia, in relation to his clearness 
from marriage engagements, when it is 
probable he removed within the limits 
of Delaware County. Early in 1686, 
he married Martha, the daughter of 
John Houlston, at which time he re- 
sided in Chester township, but 1% is 
supposed he went to reside on a tract 
of land in Middletown township shortly 
afterwards, where he continued to re- 
side till the time of his decease in 1705. 
His children were Jonathan, Martha, 
Sarah, Nehemiah, Samuel, John, 
Aaron, Hannah and Stephen ; the last 
born after the death of his father. 

Orian, William, resided in or near 
Marcus Hook as early as 1676, and 
held the office of Constable. In 1680, 
he had removed to Calken Hook, and 
that year served as a juror under the old 
Upland Court. His name is Swedish, 
and as it suddenly disappears from all 
records, may have suffered a corruption 
that renders its indentity with any 
existing Swedish name doubtful. 

Ormes, Richard, there are strong 
reasons for believing, came from Frods- 
ham, in Cheshii'e, England, to Penn- 
sylvania, and at first settled in the 
embryo City of Philadelphia, where he 
followed the business of shoemaking. 
In 1686, he married Mary Tydder, an 



490 



BIOaRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



orphan girl who had emigrated from 
Dolgelly, in Merionethshire, Wales, 
and resided with her friends in Radnor. 
Some time after their marriage, the 
family removed to Radnor, where 
Richard became an influential member 
of the Society of Friends. He was a 
recommended minister, and in IVOI, 
made a religious visit to Maryland. 
Their children, so far as is known, 
were Catharine, Mary and Elizabeth. 
He again removed to Philadelphia, but 
in 1728, when advanced in years, he 
returned again to Radnor, where he pro- 
bably ended his days He appears to 
have undergone some suffering on ac- 
count of religion in his native country. 

OxLEY, WiLLLAM, arrived at Burling- 
ton, N. J., in 1677, in company with 
about seventy Jersey settlers, on board 
of the ship Willing Miiid, from London ; 
was settled in Chester the next year ; 
was a juror at the first Court under 
Penn's Government, and served as 
Supervisor of the Highways, " between 
Upland Creek and Amersland," before 
the fii-st arrival of the Proprietary. 

Smith, in his History of Pennsylvania, 
says that a noted Quaker preacher of 
Barbadoes, named John Oxley, who 
died in Philadelphia in 1743, aged 
forty, was born at Chester, and was 
the first "raised from among the pos- 
terity of the settlers of the provinces, 
to bear a public testimony." He was 
undoubtedly the son of William Oxley. 
William died in membership with 
Friends in I7l7, and his wife Ann in 
1723, both at Philadelphia. 

Painter, George, was one of the 
earliest settlers in Haverford township, 
was a Friend, and took an active part 
in meeting affairs. As early as the 9th 
of the 8th mo. (October) 1684, he was 
appointed by the meeting in conjunction 
with William Howell, " to view and set 
out a burial place at Haverford." The 
place selected is the old part of the 
present graveyard attached to Haver- 
ford Meeting. He died in 1687, leaving 
his Avife Eleanor and two young chil- 
dren, Daniel and Deborah to survive 
him, the former being the first child 
of European parentage, born in Haver- 
ford. Eleanor and her son Daniel both 
died in 1689. 

Papegoya, John, brought a recom- 



mendation from the Queen of Sweden 
and her council, to Governor Printz, in 
1643, and soon afterwards married his 
energetic daughter, Armgard, at Tini- 
cum. Upon the return of the Governor 
in 1648, to his native country, Pape- 
goya remained in charge of the Colony, 
as Deputy Governor for about two 
years. He subsequently returned to 
Sweden, and is lost sight of, while his 
wife continued here many years after- 
wards. 

Parke, Nathaniel, was one of the 
early English Quaker settlers of Chi- 
chester. In 1688, he married Elizabeth 
Cook of Darby. 

Parker, Richard, with his wife Jane 
and two children, Jane and Richard, 
settled in Darby township west of 
Darby Creek, in 1684. They were 
trom Upper IBolton in the County of 
Nottingham, England, but brought 
their certificate from the Friends' Meet- 
ing of Willowby, in the adjoining 
County of Lincoln, of which they had 
been members. His daughter Jane, 
was the wife of William Smith, who 
also settled in Darby, and his son 
Richard, was married to Susanna Tuni- 
cliflfe of Chester Meeting, in 1696. The 
elder Richard, died in 1728, and his 
wife Jane, in 1695. A nephew, John 
Parker, probably accompanied Richard 
to this country, and also resided at 
Darby. He was a carpenter by trade, 
and accumulated a considerable estate. 
He died in 1716, probably unmarried. 

Pearce, George, " of the parish of 
Winscom, in the County of Somerset, 
(England,) and Ann Gainer of Thorn- 
bury, in the County of Gloucester, were 
married the 1st day of 12 mo. commonly 
called February, 1679." George with 
his wife and three young children, 
emigrated from Bristol, the seaport 
nearest his residence in 1684, and the 
same year had a tract of 490 acres of 
land surveyed to him in what is now 
Thornbury township. Thornbury being 
the name of a district of country from 
which he obtained his wife, and a 
desire on his part to keep up the old 
associations most dear to him, proba- 
bly suggested the name of the town- 
ship. He arrived at Philadelphia prior 
to the 4th of the 9th mo. 1684, upon 
which day he presented two cevtifi- 



BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICES. 



491 



cates to a Meeting of Friends held " att 
the Governor's house." One of these 
certificates was from " the monthly 
Meeting at Ffrenshay, in the County 
of Gloucester.'' The other was from 
" Thornbury Meeting." He may have 
settled on his new purchase in 1685, 
but his name first appears as an active 
member of Chichester Friends' Meeting 
in 1686; shortly after which, meetings 
were sometimes held at his house. 
Besides being strict in his attention to 
his religious duties, he gave a share of 
his time to civil affairs, and of his 
means to the improvement of the coun- 
try. He represented Chester County 
in the Provincial Assembly in 1706, 
and was one of a company who erected 
" the Concord mill," the first mill 
erected in his neighborhood. His chil- 
dren were Betty, George, Joshua, Ann, 
Margaret, Mary, Caleb, Gainer, Hannah 
and John. Betty intermarried with 
Vincent Caldwell ; Ann with John Gib- 
bons ; Mary with Joseph, and Hannah 
with Edward Brinton, both grandsons 
of the elder, William Brinton ; Joshua 
with Ann Mercer ; Caleb with Hannah 
Cloud, and Gainer with Sarah Walter. 
George Pearce was living in 1*712. 

Pearson, Thomas, frequently called 
Thomas Person, with his Avife Margery, 
came from England with William Penn 
when on his first visit to Pennsylvania. 
If any reliance can be placed on tra- 
dition, it Avas upon his suggestion that 
the name of Upland was changed to 
Chester. He settled in Marple town- 
ship on the tract marked " Thomas 
Perce" on Holme's map. His children 
were Robert, Thomas, Lawrence, Enoch, 
John, Alice, Sarah and Benjamin, all 
born in this country. His daughter 
Sarah, intermarried with John West, 
and was the mother of the great painter 
Benjamin West. His son Robert Pea? son, 
intermarried with Catharine the daugh- 
ter of James Thomas of Merion. Thomas 
Pearson the elder was alive in 1*706. 
Besides Pearson, some of his descen- 
dants took the name of Parsons, Person 
and Pierson. 

Pearson, Benjamin, with his wife Su- 
sanna and family, emigrated from the 
town of Rotherham in the West Riding 
of Yorkshire, England, about the year 
1712, and settled in Darby. His wife's 
maiden name was Burbeck. They were 



in membership with Friends at the 
time of tlieir arrival. Benjamin Avas a 
very sedate man, strongly English in 
his notions, and never became fully 
reconciled to this country. He never 
would admit that its products were 
equal to those of England — turnips only 
excepted. He died in 1763 aged 81 
years, the death of his wife having oc- 
curred eighteen years earlier.' They 
had been better educated than was 
usual for immigrants in that day, but 
Benjamin feeling so little interested in 
the country never made any exertions 
to acquire property in it. Their chil- 
dren were Benjamin, Thomas and Isaac 
born in England, and John, Joseph, 
Samuel and Joshua, born in this coun- 
try. Thomas, the second son, married 
Hannah the daughter of Samuel, and 
grand daughter of the immigrant John 
Blunston, and settled in Darby. From 
their oldest son John Pearson, who 
married Anne Bevan all the Darby 
Pearson families have descended. 

Person, or Pearson, John, was an 
early settler in Newtown toAvnship, and 
was a brother to Thomas Person or 
Pearson of Marple, and he also had a 
brother Edward, probably Edward 
Pierson of Darby. As Thomas and 
Edward, both came from Cheshire, Eng- 
land, it may be inferred that he also 
migrated from the same place. He be- 
queathed £10 towards building a meet- 
ing-house at Newtown, and £6 towards 
^'■paling in" a grave yard at Springfield. 
He died in 1709, without children, and 
probably unmarried. 

Pedhick, Roger, was a purchaser of 
land in England from John Fenwick, 
and probably arrived at Salem, N. J. 
with that adventurer in 1675, and 
located his land on Old Man's Creek. 
In November 1677, we find him a resi- 
dent and taxable of Marcus Hook, and 
the records of Chester Monthly Meeting 
show, that his daughter Rebecca by his 
wife of the same name was born at 
Marcus Hook, on the 14th of the 7th 
month (September) 1678, the earliest 
well authenticated birth within the 
limits of Pennsylvania, where both 
parents were natives of England, that 
has come under the notice of the author. 
Their son Thomas was born the 14th 
of the 2nd month 1681. The subject 
of this notice was empanneled on the 



49: 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



first jury under the Proprietary Gov- 
ernment. He was a Friend and refused 
to take an oath before Upland Court 
in 1678, but lie was not an active 
member of that Society. He came 
from the vicinity of London where he 
had suffered persecution for attending 
the meetings of the Quakers. 

Pennick, John, was an early settler 
in Bethel. His wife was Frances, the 
sister of Edward Beazer. He was a 
man in very moderate circumstances, 
but lived in unity with Friends. In 
1695 he purchased land in Bethel, ad- 
joining the south line of Concord. His 
children were Joshua, Edward, Ruth, 
Lydia, Mary, Rachel, Sarah and Han- 
nah. 

Pennick, Edward and Christopher, 
two brothers, and brothers of the above 
John Pennick. They resided in Bethel ; 
and both died in 1T32, leaving no chil- 
dren. The three brothers probably 
came from Cork, in Ireland, but when 
they immigrated is not known. 

Pennell, Robert, with his wife, 
Hannah, and family, settled in Middle- 
town as early as 1686. In 1687 he was 
appointed constable for that township. 
His wife died in 1711, aged seventy-one 
years, while he was still living. Their 
children, so far as is known, were 
Hannah, who married John Sharp- 
less of Ridley; Joseph, who married 
Alice, daughter of William Garrett of 
Darby ; Ann, who married Benjamin 
Mendenhall of Concord, and William, 
who married Mary, daughter of Thomas 
and Mary Mercer of Thornbury. They 
were all Friends in good standing. 

Pennell, John, was in the country 
as early as 1689; was probably then 
quite a young man, and resided in the 
neighborhood of Darby. In 1703 he 
married Mary Morgan, of Dublin 
Monthly Meeting, and settled in Con- 
cord township. But little is known of 
John, but Mary became eminent as a 
minister among Friends. She was 
born in Radnorshire, Wales, and was 
educated in the Church of England, 
but at the early age of thirteen years 
was convinced of the truth of the doc- 
trines of Quakerism. When sixteen, 
she emigrated to Pennsylvania and 
united herself with Friends, and in 



1722 became a minister, and subse- 
quently travelled much in the exercise 
of her calling. She visited the New 
England colonies, and on one occasion 
Great Britain and Ireland. 

Pennock, Joseph, was the son of 
Christopher Pennock, who, on the au- 
thority of tradition, was an officer in 
the military service of William of 
Orange, emigrated to Cornwall, Eng- 
land, and subsequentlj' married Marj, 
the daughter of George CoUett of Clon- 
mel, in the County of Tipperary, Ireland. 
After residing there and in England for 
some time, he, prior to the year 1685, 
removed to Pennsylvania, but being in 
the service of King William, was in the 
battle of Boyne in 1690. By trade he 
was a cardmaker. He died in Phila- 
delphia in 1701. His children were 
Nathaniel, who died young, and Joseph, 
the subject of this notice, who was 
born at or near Clonmel in 1677. 
Joseph, in one of his passages to this 
country, under a Letter of Marque, was 
captured by a French ship of war and 
carried to France, where he was re- 
tained as a prisoner upwards of a year, 
and suflered many hardships. In 1702 
he settled in Philadelphia, and engaged 
in the mercantile business. In 1705 
he was a resident of Springfield town- 
ship, (perhaps only temporarily so,) 
and was that year married to Mary, 
the daughter of Samuel Levis of that 
township. Joseph was not in member- 
ship with Friends, but Mary being the 
daughter of one standing high in that 
Society, the marriage was effected at 
the residence of the bride's father, after 
the manner of Friends, before two Jus- 
tices of the Court, and a suitable num- 
ber of witnesses. In 1714, Joseph, 
with his family, removed to West Marl- 
borough, Chester County, and settled 
on a large tract of land. Here, in 1738, 
he erected a large mansion, which he 
called " Primitive Hall," and in which 
he died in 1771. His Avife died in 1748. 
Their children were Elizabeth, Samuel, 
William, Maiy, Joseph, Nathaniel, Ann, 
Sarah, Joseph, (2) Hannah, Levis and 
Susanna. 

Joseph Pennock was a man of ability, 
public spirit and indomitable energy. 
He represented the County of Chester 
twelve years in the Provincial Assem- 
bly, being first elected to that oflice in 
1716. At first, his Marlborough resi- 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



493 



dence was in a wilderness, the con- 
stant resort of Indians. His doors were, 
however, never fastened against these 
children of the forest, and food was 
always left for those who might choose 
to enter his kitchen at night ; and it 
was no uncommon thing to find seve- 
ral Indians stretched on the floor be- 
fore the kitchen fire in the morning. 
Such kindness produced its natural 
result; the Indians guarded his pro- 
perty in every practicable way, and 
when any of his cattle or horses would 
stray, they were sure to return them. 

Philip, Philip, was one of the early 
Welsh Quaker settlers of Radnor. He 
died in 1697 leaving two daughters, 
Mary and Jane. Mary intermarried 
with David Morris of Marple, and Jane 
with Thomas Parry of Philadelphia 
County. In 1701, his widow, Phebe, 
intermarried with Richard Moore. 

PiERSON, Edward, from Ponnallfee, 
in Cheshire, England, settled in Darby 
towns'hip in 1687. By trade he was a 
mason, and probably followed that 
business. He was a member of the 
Society of Friends, but was not so strict 
a member as was usual in his day. 
There are reasons for believing that he 
was a brother of Thomas Pearson, who 
accompanied William Penn, and who 
was instrumental in changing the name 
of Upland to Chester, though his name 
is spelled differently. He had a son 
Lawrence, and probably one named 
Thomas and another Abel. It is said 
he removed to Bucks County. 

Powell, Rowland, first presents him- 
sents himself to our notice at Haver- 
ford, where he is a candidate for matri- 
mony with Maud Richard, before the 
Friends' Meeting of that place, in 1695. 
They w^re both recently from Wales, 
and having neglected to bring the usual 
certificate with them, they were obliged 
to call upon their friends who had 
known them in their native country, to 
testify to their " clearness," after which 
the marriage was allowed to proceed. 
He was a preacher, and probably had 
visited the country before. His wife 
died in 1708, and he probably removed. 
Their children were Elizabeth, Gobitha, 
Gemima, Dorothy, Rowland and Mary. 

Powell, Evau ap William, with his 



wife Gwen, and his sons David and 
Philip Evans, came to America about 
1684, and settled in Radnor. He was 
from Glamorganshire in South Wales, 
and was in membership with Friends. 

Powell, Thomas, emigrated from the 
" Lordship of Rudheith in the County 
Palatine of Chester," England, and ar- 
rived at Chester, then Upland, on the 
14th of the 6th mo. (August) 1682, in 
company with John Sharpless, and a 
short time before the arrival of the 
Proprietor. George Keith, who held 
meetings in his house in 1703, says that 
he and his wife had been Quakers, but 
had joined the Church, " with divers 
others of his neighbors." He died in 
1714 at an advanced age. He had 
three sons, John, Joseph and Thomas. 
By his will he gave four adjoining lots 
in Chester, " lying in James street, over 
against the church," for the use of the 
church. The new church of St James 
was probably erected on these lots. 
His son Thomas, who emigrated with 
his father, and died a very short time 
before him, bequeathed £5 " towards 
building a house for the minister of 
Chester * * * * to be pay'i when they 
build a house for the minister on those 
lotts given for that purpose." 

Powell, David, was one of the 
Deputy Surveyors under Thomas 
Holme. Being a Welshman, he was 
generally employed in making surveys 
within the limits of the Welsh Tract. 
He was an early immigrant, as his com- 
mission bears date 8th mo. 1683. It is 
not certainly known, whether he was 
married or not at the time of his 
arrival, but in 1707 he was married to 
Mary Haverd a widow of Merlon, at 
which time he resided in Philadelphia. 
He owned several tracts of land in 
Radnor, and it is supposed that he re- 
moved to that township, as in 1722 a 
taxable of that name resided there. In 
1727, "our ancient Friend, David 
Powell," obtained a certificate to re- 
move to Gwynedd, but it is not entirely 
certain that the certificate was for him, 
as there were others of the same name. 

Price, David, with his wife Joan and 
six children, came from Brecknockshire 
in Wales, in 1690, and settled in Rad- 
nor. He was a Friend, and meetings 
were held at his nouse. 



494 



BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Printz, Jeuffro Armgard, the 
daughter of Governor Printz, accom- 
panied her father to America, resided 
with him on Tinicum Island, and there 
became the wife of John Papegoya in 
1644. Though sometimes called by the 
name of her husband, she was best 
known by her maiden name. All that 
is known in respect to this energetic 
lady, has been very fully detailed in 
the narrative, and will not be repeated 
here. She resided at " Printz-dorp" 
up to nearly the time it was occupied 
by Robert AVade, when she probably 
returned to het native country. It is 
not known that she had any children, 
and this fact renders her long continued 
solitary residence on the Delaware the 
more remarkable. 

Pritchet, Edward, from Almel, in 
the County of Hereford, England, 
" Glover," settled in Ridley township, 
prior to 1 684. He was in membership 
with Friends, but took no great interest 
in the affairs of the Society. In 1705, 
his son Philip intermarried with Sarah, 
daughter of William Smith of Darby, 
and the same year, William the son of 
John Smith of Darby, intermarried with 
his daughter Elizabeth. He was living 
in 1699. 

Prythereth, or Protherah Evan, 
migrated from Narbeth in Pembroke- 
shire, Wales, where he had suffered as 
a Qnaker by fine and imprisonment. 
He was one of the early Welsh settlers 
of Radnor township. He had daugh- 
ters, but no sons. The name soon dis- 
appears from our record. 

PuGH, Ellis, with his wife Sina, 
came from Brithdu near Dolgelly, 
Merionethshire, Wales, and at first set- 
tled in Radnor in 1686, but it is uncer- 
tain whether he ever owned any land 
in that township. He was an emi- 
nent Quaker preacher in " the ancient 
British tongue," [Welsh.] In the 
language of his certificate he was, " an 
honest, innocent, self denying man y' 
aims more at eternity than temporary 
and worldly perishing things." In 
1706-7, he paid a religious visit to his 
native country. How long he resided 
in Radnor is not known, but it is cer- 
tain he had fixed his residence within 
the verge of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting- 
many years before his death. He was 



born in 1656, his father having died 
before he was born, and his mother 
three days afterwards. He died in 
1718, aged sixty-two years, leaving 
several children. 

His death was preceded by a pro- 
tracted illness, during which time he 
wrote a work in Welsh entitled, "A 
Salutation to the Britains, to call them 
from the many things, to the one thing 
needful &c.," which was published in 
that language by Haverford and Gwy- 
nedd Meetings, after his death. This 
work was subsequently published in 
English, translated by Rowland Ellis, 
and revised by David Lloyd. 

Pdgh, William, with his wife Cath- 
arine and daughter Ann, came from 
Tyddyn y garreg, in Wales, and settled 
within the verge of Haverford Monthly 
Meeting of which he was a member. 
He died in 1708, and as he only names 
collaterals in his will, it is supposed 
his wife and daughter had died before 
him. 

PusEY, John, a resident of London, 
and by occupation a dyer, located a 
large tract of land in Middletown, but 
I am not certain that he came to this 
country. He was a relative of Caleb 
Pusey, and it is probable that his 
family migrated to this country and 
settled in Marlborough. 

Pusey, Caleb, with his wife, Ann, 
and daughter of the same name, emi- 
grated in 1682. By trade he was a 
lastmaker. Perhaps no one among the 
early immigrants to Pennsylvania was 
better qualified to contend with the 
difiiculties incident to the first settle- 
ment of a new country than Caleb 
Pusey. His place of residence within 
the limits of this County was at " the 
Chester Mills." In the establishment of 
these mills, and in the conducting of 
them many years afterwards, he was the 
active partner and master spirit. It re- 
quired more than ordinary energy to 
contend with the repeated misfortunes 
attendant on the first erection of this 
early improvement. Mill after mill was 
swept away by the flood, but the in- 
domitable energy of Pusey was not 
overcome, and at length his efforts were 
crowned with success. But his whole 
time was not occupied with his pri- 
vate concerns. Much was devoted to 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



495 



civil affairs and to his religious duties. 
We find him "taking his turn" as a 
township officer and serving as a juror; 
in laying out roads and negotiating 
with the Indians ; in performing the 
duties of sheriff and acting as a justice 
of the county court ; as a member of 
the Provincial Assembly, and at length 
of the Executive Council. To religious 
matters he v?as equally attentive. His 
name constantly appears in the minutes 
of the Society of Friends among those 
who were most active in settling dif- 
ficulties and in promoting deeds of 
benevolence. He frequently appeared 
in the ministry, and sometimes employ- 
ed his pen in the defence of the doc- 
trines of his sect. His reply to . one 
Daniel Leeds was liberally subscribed 
for by the meetings. He was a firm 
man and of the strictest integrity, and 
though an intimate friend of the cele- 
brated George Keith, when that gen- 
tleman chose to attack, what was re- 
garded by Caleb Pusey as true Quaker 
doctrine, he did not hesitate to sustain 
the testimony that was pronounced 
against him. It was from Caleb Pusey, 
that Smith, the early historian of Penn- 
sylvania, obtained much of the material 
from which his work was composed. 

His daughter, Ann, died within a 
few months after her arrival, but her 
loss was supplied by another daughter, 
born in 1686, who was also named 
Ann. They had one other daughter, 
, Lydia, but no sons. He removed to 
Marlborough, Chester County, where 
he was again married. He died in 
1726, at the house of his son-in-law, 
John Smith, in the 76th year of his 
age. 

Pyle, Robekt, of Horto^n, in the 
parish of Bishops Canning, Wiltshire, 
England, malster, was manied to Ann, 
the daughter of William Globy, of Hil- 
perton, in the same county, yeoman, the 
16th of the 9th mo., (November,) 1681. 
The exact time of the migration of this 
young couple to America is not known, 
but we find them settled in Bethel as 
early as 1684. They were both in 
membership with Friends, but Robert 
was by no means a nominal member. 
Early gatherings of the Chichester 
Meeting were sometimes held at his 
house, and in 1706 he was one of a 
committee to establish a meeting at 
Nottingham. In civil affairs also he 



was frequently called upon to take a 
part. He was a representative in the 
Provincial Assembly several years, and 
also served a long time as one of the 
Justices of the County Court. His 
children were Sarah, Robert, William, 
John, Mary, Jacob, Joseph and Daniel. 
He was alive in 1717 when his brother 
Nicholas died. 

Pyle, Nicholas, immigrated and 
settled in Concord as early as 1686. 
He was a brother of Robert Pyle who 
settled in Bethel. In 1688 he married 
Abigail, the daughter of Joseph Bush- 
ell, by whom he had six children, viz., 
Mary, Edith, Nicholas, Samuel, James 
and Joseph. He appears to have been 
a man of good business qualifications 
and accumulated a considerable pro- 
perty before his death, which occurred 
in 1717, while his wife was still living. 
He was one of the owners and pro- 
jectors of '• the Concord Blills," and 
was otherwise useful as a pioneer in 
developing the resources of the coun- 
try. He represented Chester County 
in the Provincial Assembly six years, 
and served in many other civil em- 
ployments. In religion he was earn- 
estly devoted to the doctrines and 
principles of Quakerism. His brother 
Robert came from Bishops Canning in 
Wiltshire, which was probably the 
place of his nativity. 

Radley, John, settled in that part of 
Birmingham or Thornbury not included 
in Delaware County, was a worsted 
comber by trade, and as he left chil- 
dren in England, it may be supposed 
he was advanced in years at the time 
of his emigration. He died in 1703, 
the mansion property passing to his 
son William. Radlei/'s Run has its 
name from this family. He appears to 
have lived in Westown in 1693, as he 
was appointed constable for that town- 
ship that year. 

RuTHEROW, or Rytherich, Reese, 
from the parish of Llanwenog, County 
of Cardigan, Wales, was a large land 
holder in Haverford, and resided in 
that township temporarily as early as 
1686. 

Rawson, Olle, or Wolley, (Oele 
Raessen,) an early Finish or Swedish 
settler on Naaman's Greek, and one of 



496 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



the six grantees of Marcus Hook from 
Sir Edmund Andros. As early as 1668, 
in conjunction with Neals Laerson, he 
purchased land on the Jersey side of 
the Delaware, then under the govern- 
ment of Philip Carteret, which they 
had previously purchased from the 
Indians. In 1697 he sold the mills 
then erected near the mouth of Naa- 
man's Creek to Jasper Yeates. In 1681 
he served the oflSce of supervisor "from 
Marcus Creek to Naaman's Creek." In 
1685 George Foreman made a convey- 
ance of property in Chichester to him 
and his wife Ebritta. 

Rees, Harry, an early Welsh settler 
of Radnor township, died about the 
year 1*705, leaving a widow, Elizabeth, 
and three children, viz., David, Gwenli- 
ana and Margaret. David was married 
and lived in Newtown at the time of 
his father's death. He died in 1706. 
David appears to have been a Quaker, 
but it is not certain in respect to his 
father. 

Revel, Thomas, with his wife, family 
and servants, arrived at Burlington, a 
passenger on board of the Shield from 
Hull, in December, 1678. He was ap- 
pointed Clerk of the Court of Upland 
County at the first establishment of 
Penn's government, and was continued 
as Clerk after Chester County was 
organized, though it is not certain that 
he resided within the limits of that 
County. 

Reynolds, Henry, with his wife 
Prudence resided at Marcus Hook as 
early as the 25th of the 5th mo. (July) 
1680, when a daughter named Margaret 
was born to them at that place. He 
was on the first jury held under the 
government of the Proprietary, and his 
business about this time appears to 
have been that of keeping a public 
house. He was at first a Quaker, but 
probably left the Society. 

Rees, Thomas,, (carpenter,) was set- 
tled in Haverford in 1687. When he 
emigrated from Wales is not known. 
In 1692, he was united in marriage with 
Frances Price at Haverford Meeting, 
they both being Friends. Their chil- 
dren were, Samuel, Sarah, Mary, David 
and Isaac. 



Rees, Thomas, also settled in Haver- 
ford, and in 1692 was married to 
Rebecca William of that township. 
They were Friends, and doubtless both 
were Welsh immigrants. They had 
one son, named Thomas. 

Richards, Joseph, with his wife Jane 
and family, was settled in Chichester 
as early as 1685. He was a Friend and 
took some interest in the business 
transactions of the Society. His chil- 
dren were, Nathaniel, Ann who inter- 
married with Humphrey Scarlet, and 
Susanna who intermarried with James 
Lownes of Springfield. They doubt- 
less all migrated from England. Joseph 
Richards died in 1710. His son Na- 
thaniel died in 1700 leaving four chil- 
dren, viz. William, Nathaniel, Elizabeth 
and Mary. 

Richard, John, with his wife Susan, 
from Dolgelly, Merionethshire, Wales, 
immigrated in 1683 or 1684 and set- 
tled in Haverford. They were Friends. 
Their children (born in this country) 
were Susanna, Richard, Jane and John, 
He died in 1696. 

Richard, John, from the County of 
Pembroke, South Wales, settled in 
Radnor in 1 696. Was a member of the 
Society of Friends, but took no active 
part in meeting affairs. 

Roads, Adam, " the sone of John and 
Elizabeth Roads of Wingreayes, County 
of Darby" England, immigrated to 
Pennsylvania in 1684, and settled in 
Darby (now Upper Darby) township. 
He Avas from Codnor in Derbyshire. 
In 1 691 he was married at Darby Meeting 
to Katharine, the daughter of John 
Blunston. He was a good citizen, and 
attended diligently to his religious 
duties. His children were, John, Han- 
nah, Sarah, Elizabeth, Joseph and 
Adam. Katharine died in 1733, and 
Adam in 1744-5. 

Roads, John, Jr., came from Whit- 
low in Derbyshire. He was the son of 
John and Elizabeth Roads, and settled 
at Darby, where he resided several 
years. He probably removed to White 
Marsh. 

Roads, John, the elder, father of the 
above named John and Adam Roads, 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



497 



irnmigrated to Pennsylvania sometime 
after the arrival of his two elder sons, 
accompanied by his youngest son 
Joseph, and probably by another son 
Jacob. He at first settled in Philadelphia, 
but removed to Darby previous to his 
death in 1701. It is supposed his wife 
Elizabeth died before he left England. 
He devised to his son Joseph land in 
Marple and to his son John land in 
White Marsh. 

Roads, Joseph, the next year after 
the death of his father the above named 
John Roads, was married to Abigail 
the daughter of Richard Bonsall of 
Darby (now Upper Darby) in accord- 
ance with the usages of the Society of 
Friends. Their children were, John, 
Mary, Elizabeth and Abigail. Joseph 
settled in Marple on the land devised 
to him by his father which is still 
owned and occupied by his descendants. 

Robert, Roger, migrated from 
Hendremaur, Penllyn, Merionethshire, 
Wales, about the year 1699, and set- 
tled in Merion, where his wife Elizabeth 
died the next year. In 1715, he inter- 
married with Mary Roberts a widow, of 
Radnor, and went to reside in that 
township. He had become a Quaker 
from convincement sometime before 
removing to America, and took an 
active part in meetitxgs of business. He 
was an overseer of Radnor Meeting at 
the time of his death in 1720. One of 
his sons took the name o^ Robert Rogers. 

RocHFOED, Dennis, was from Ems- 
torfey. County of Wexford, Ireland, 
and arrived on board the ship Welcome 
in company with the proprietary, with 
his wife Mary, who was a daughter of 
John Herriot who died on the passage. 
Dennis lost two daughters at sea — 
Grace and Mary. He settled in Con- 
cord township, where he had located 
a large tract of land. In 1683, he 
represented Chester County in the Pro- 
vincial Assembly, but his name soon 
disappears from our records. 

Roman, Philip, came to reside in 
Chichester as early as 1684. He doubt- 
less emigrated from England, and ap- 
pears to have been a widower at the 
time of his arrival. In 1685, he married 
Sarah, the widow of William Bezer, 
and after her death, he was married a 

32 



third time in 1690, to Amy the widow 
of John Hardin. He appears to have 
been a man of ability, and exercised a 
good degree of influence, both in the 
Society of Friends of which he was a 
member, and also in the community. 
He was one of the Justices of the Court, 
and one year represented the County 
of Chester in the Provincial Assembly. 
He had two sons by his first wife, 
Robert and Philip, and one daughter, 
who was married to Isaac Taylor the 
Surveyor, in 1694. 

Ross, Alexander, a member of the 
Society of Friends, migrated from 
Ireland, and settled within the bounds 
of Chester Monthly Meeting, early in 
the 18th century. In 1706, he married 
Catharine Chambers of Chichester, and 
in 1713 removed to Haverford, and in 
1715, back again within the bounds of 
Chester Meeting, and from thence with- 
in the bounds of New Garden Meeting, 
where it appears he remained till 
about the year 1733, when he in com- 
pany with several other Pennsylvania 
Quakers, obtained a grant for 100,000 
acres of land from the governor and 
council of Virginia, on a stream in that 
State called Opecan. To this place 
Alexander removed with his associates 
in the purchase, formed a settlement, 
and established a meeting, which is 
possibly still kept up. His children 
were Mary, Lydia. Rebecca, John, 
George and Albeinah. 

RouTH, Lawrence, with his wife 
Ann, emigrated from "y'' Haws" in 
Yorkshire, England ; at first landed in 
Maryland, and for a short time so- 
journed in Talbot County. He arrived 
within our limits about the year 1688, 
and settled in Chester township, and 
called his place Westoji. He was a 
Friend, but little else is known of him 
as he died in 1691. His children were 
Thomas and Lawrence, born in Eng- 
land ; Rachel born in Maryland, and 
Francis born in Pennsylvania. In 1693, 
his widow intermarried with Humphrey 
Johnson of Chichester. 

Salkeld, John, an eminent Quaker 
preacher, the son of Thomas Salkeld of 
Cumberland, England, visited this 
country as a travelling Friend in 1700, 
and immigrated with his wife Agnes 
in 1711, and settled near Chester. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Though a sincere man, he was naturally 
witty and eccentric. Many anecdotes 
are related of him, of which the 
following is the most singular : — Being 
in attendance at a meeting some dis- 
tance from home, in the midst of pro- 
found silence, he suddenly rapped his 
cane on the floor, and immediately re- 
peated these words: — "Resist the 
Devil this once, and he will not trouble 
thee again." In about a year after- 
wards, he visited the same neigborhood, 
when he was met by a man who told 
him, that he was the person for whom 
his singular sermon was intended — 
that for some time previously to the 
time of its delivery, he had been in a 
low desponding state of mind, and had 
that morning put a rope into his jjocket 
with the purpose of putting an end to 
his life, but on his way to the spot 
selected, it came to his mind to go to 
meeting first, which he did, and there 
having met with such a well-timed and 
emphatic rebuke, his plans of self 
destruction were wholly frustrated. He 
thanked Salkeld for having saved his life. 
Salkeld died in IT39, aged sixty-seven 
years, and his wife in 1749, aged seventj- - 
three years. Very much of the time of 
John Salkeld was taken up in making 
religious visits. Besides numerous 
journeys of this kind on this continent 
and to Barbadoes, he twice visited his 
native country; in 1*717, and again in 
1725. His children were Joseph, 
Thomas, William, David, Sarah, John 
and Mary. 

Sandelandes, James, was doubtless 
the earliest European inhabitant of 
Upland, who was not a Swede or a 
Dutchman ; and this possibly may he 
true in respect to the whole State. He 
has been represented as a native of 
Scotland.* His acquaintance with the 
Delaware River, was made in the 
character of a soldier, in the service of 
the Government of the Duke of York, 
as may safely be inferred from the fol- 
lowing record of his discharge. 



" Corpru Thomas Rosse, 
James Sanderlyn, 



discharged 
April 27th, 

i given to 

J CaptoCarr.'- 



* Sandiland was a Scotcli name in the neigh- 
borhood of Aberdeen in 1677, when one Kobert 
Sandiland, with George Keith and others were 
imprisoned for being present at a Quaker Meet- 
ng. — Besse, ii. 633. 



Sec. States office, Albany N. F., (list 
of Discharged Soldiers for 1669.) Book 
Court of Assize, ii. 389. 

As early as 1668, while still a soldier, 
he obtained a patent for land in Upland, 
and it may reasonably be supposed 
that he settled there immediately after 
his discharge. Here he soon formed 
a matrimonial alliance with Ann, the 
daughter of Urin Keen a Swede, and 
one of the six original grantees of Upr 
land ; if indeed that alliance had not 
already been formed while he was doing 
military service on the Delaware. Of 
mature age, intelligent and experienced 
in the river trade, he could hardly fail 
of success in business, and when Gov- 
ernor Markham came over in 1681 to 
initiate the Provincial Government, he 
found James Sandelandes one of the 
best qualified residents to aid him in 
conducting its affairs. He accordingly 
appointed him one of his council, and 
also made him a Justice of the Upland 
Courtj as it was continued under his 
administration. His death occurred in 
1692, at the age of fifty-six years. His 
daughter Catharine was then married 
to Jasper Yates, and another daughter 
to George Foreman of Marcus Hook. . 
His other children were Jonas, Lydia, ' 
Christian, Mary and James, most of 
whom were then minors. The beauti- 
fully engraved frontispiece of the " Up- 
land Court Records," rejDresents a tablet 
erected to the memory of this pioneer 
in the settlement of our Common- 
wealth ; and also to that of his wife, 
who survived him. The original, 
somewhat mutilated, is now preserved 
in St. Paul's Church at Chester, and 
" is interesting from the excellence of 
its execution, and as a specimen of 
early art." 

Saunders, Paul, was one of the 
earliest immigrants who settled on the 
west side of the Schuylkill opposite 
Philadelphia. His marriage, which is 
the first registered in the Haverford 
Monthly Meeting Records, was accom- 
plished, 6th mo. 24lh, 1684, at the 
house of Thomas Duckett, which stood 
a little above the Permanent bridge, 
and at which Friend's Meetings were 
then regularly held. Edith Hand, to 
whom he was married, was the servant 
girl of John Moon ; and before the mar- 
riage was allowed to proceed, a meet- 
ing committee was appointed to inquire 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



499 



if John Moon had been satisfied for 
the services of the young lady. Paul 
soon acquired a high standing in public 
estimation, as well as in that of the 
Society, and his bride, bj^ her prudence 
and intelligence, proved herself worthy 
of his choice. In 1690, he was a repre- 
sentative from Philadelphia in the 
Provincial Assembly, and was frequent- 
ly charged with other important public 
appointments. Edith died in 1698, 
and in 1701, Paul removed to Chester 
where he carried on the tanning busi- 
ness for some years, but previous to 
his death, which happened in 1716, he 
removed to Philadelphia. So far as is 
known, he had but two children, Paul 
and Mary. 

ScoTHORN, Robert, settled in Darby 
in 1684. He came from Oxton in the 
County of Northumberland, England. 
In 1692, he married Mary, the daughter 
of Henry Gibbons, and having that 
year purchased land in what is now 
Upper Darby, made his permanent set- 
lement there. By trade he was a shoe- 
maker, and in religious profession, a 
strict Friend. He died in 1708, leaving 
his wife and two sons, Samuel and 
Nathan to survive him. 

Sellers, Samuel, emigrated froniBel- 
per, in the " County of Darby," England, 
in 1682, and arriving the same year, set- 
tled in Darby, now Upper Darby, on a 
small tract of land, which is still in the 
possession of his descendants. In 1684, 
he was married to Anna the daughter 
of Henry Gibbons, who probably came 
over in the same ship. By trade he 
was a weaver, and carried on that 
business in connection with farming. 
As a man, he was upright and just 
in his dealings ; as a Friend, he was 
attentive to his religious duties, and 
submissive to the discipline of the 
Society, even yielding his judgment to 
that of the meeting in private affairs, 
being " willing to give way," in the 
matter of the marriage of a daughter, 
to which he had interposed objections. 
He lived to an advanced age, and de- 
parted this life about the year 1732, 
his wife surviving him. In his latter 
years the Society indulged him with 
holding meetings at his house during 
the inclement season of the year. 

Sellers, John, the youngest son of 



Samuel Sellers and Jane his wife, and 
grandson of Samuel Sellers, the immi- 
grant, was born in Darby township, (now 
Upper Darby) in 1728 at the place where 
the elder Samuel had first settled. John 
received but little if any more school 
education than was usual in the days 
of his boyhood, but he was regularly 
instructed in the art of weaving, which 
had been the occupation of both his 
grandfather and father ; the latter 
having acquired a high reputation in 
the business as the inventor of a com- 
plex machine for twisting worsted, and 
as a coverlet and camlet weaver. JoAw, 
in early life displayed a more enter- 
prising disposition than his father. By 
application to books and study, he 
acquired a knowledge of surveying, 
which he began to practice early, and 
soon became eminent as a land surveyor. 
His mechanical ingenuity, which he 
appears to have inherited from his 
father, was eaily manifested by his 
construction of Wire Rolling-screens, 
and sieves for cleaning wheat, flax seed 
&c., he being the first, as is believed, 
who made these articles in America. 
With the wire weaving business he 
combined the manufacture of Dutch 
grain-fans, but at the same time drop- 
ped that of common weaving. He 
improved his paternal and purchased 
estates by the erection of mills, and it 
is said of him, that during his life he 
had erected six mill-dams, and dug 
three miles of mill-race. He strongly 
felt the necessity of a bridge over 
the Schuylkill, and to further its erec- 
tion, constructed a model of one long 
before the erection of the permanent 
bridge. 

He frequently served as a member of 
the Provincial Assembly, and before 
the revolutionary war, was appointed 
by the Governer and Council to run a 
straight line from the middle ferry on 
the Schuylkill to Lancaster, preparatory 
to laying out the Strasburg road, and 
by the same authority one of the com- 
missioners to lay out that road. He 
was also one of a commission to 
examine and ascertain the practica- 
bility of uniting the waters of the 
Schuylkill and Susquehanna by a nav- 
igable canal. In the revolution, his 
feelings were strong against the mother 
country ; and having sawed timber for 
military purposes, and signed paper 
money emitted for carrying on the war, 



500 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



he was dealt with and disowned as a 
member by the Society of Friends ; in 
his own opinion unjustly. He was 
elected a member of the first assembly 
after the reTolution, but being opposed 
to the principle of vesting the legislative 
power in one house, he declined serving 
in that body. He was a member of the 
Convention that formed the Constitution 
of Pennsylvania in 1789, and in the 
following year he was elected to repre- 
sent the County of Delaware in the 
State Senate under that Constitution. 
He was subsequently appointed an 
Associate Justice of the County Court, 
but declined serving. In 1786 he was 
chosen a member of the American 
Philosophical Society and took an 
interest in its proceedings. His death 
occurred in 1804 at the age of 75 
years. 

Sharpless, John, emigrated from 
Hadderton, County of Chester, England, 
and landed at Upland (now Chester) 
on the 14th of the 6th month (August) 
1682, more than two months before the 
arrival of William Penn. -He was ac- 
companied by his wife, Jane, whose 
maiden name was Moore, to whom he 
had been married 20 years, and their 
children, Phebe, John, Thomas, James, 
Caleb, Jane and Joseph, th.e eldest 
being 19 and the youngest 4 years of 
age. Thomas died on the passage. 
John Sharpless was one of the original 
purchasers of land in England. He 
bought 1000 acres, which was located 
in three tracts (See map of fii'st settlers,) 
and settled on the Ridley tract, be- 
tween Crum and Ridley Creeks, his first 
dwelling being the shelter afforded by 
the branches of a large fallen tree. In 
six weeks a cabin was erected against 
the perpendicular face of a larg« rock, 
which served at once for a side of the 
dwelling and the back of the chimney. 
The rock still bears the date 1682. 
This cabin was the family residence for 
about 20 years, when their youngest 
son Joseph having learned the carpen- 
ter trade, built a dwelling house which 
is still standing. The two daughters, 
Jane and Phebe, and their father, the 
elder John, all died in 1685 within two 
weeks of each other, and the son Caleb 
the next year, his death being occa- 
sioned by the bite of a venomous snake. 
Jane, the mother died in 1722 aged 84 
years. John Sharpless the elder was 



about 61 years of age at the time of 
his death. He had suffered persecution 
in England by distraint of his goods for 
attending the meetings of the Friends 
and for absenting himself from the 
national worship. (Besse i. 105, 108.) 
It does not appear that during the short 
period his life was spared after his 
arrival in this country, that he took 
any active part in public affairs or in 
those of his meeting. From John 
Sharpless have descended all who bear 
that name in this part of the country, 
and many others. 

Sharpless, John, Jr. oldest son of 
the above named John was born in 
England in 1666 and immigrated with 
his parents. In 1692 he married Han- 
nah the daughter of Robert Pennell of 
Middletown, and continued to reside 
with his mother in the primitive dwell- 
ing erected against the rock. Their 
children were, Caleb, Jane, Hannah, 
John, Phebe, Rebecca, Margaret, Ann 
and Daniel, all of whom it is believed 
continued in membership with Friends. 
Hannah, the wife of John Sharpless 
Jr., died in 1721, while he survived her 
till 1747, when he died at the age of 
81 years. 

Sharpless, James, the third son of 
the elder John Sharpless, was born in 
Cheshire, England, 5th of the 1st mo. 
1671, and was only 11 years of age at 
the time of his arrival here. In 1698 
he was married to Mary the daughter 
of John Edge, who did not survive her 
marriage but three months. In 1700 
he married Mary the daughter of Ralph 
Lewis of Haverford and settled in 
Providence. His children by this mar- , 
riage were, Lydia, Mary, James, Rachel, ' 
Thomas, David and Esther. Mary the 
second wife of James Sharpless was 
born in Glamorganshire, Wales, on the 
10th of the 5th mo. 1674. 

Sharpless, Joseph, the youngest son 
of the colonist John, was a child at the 
time of the immigration of his father. 
In 1704 he married Lydia tbe daughter 
of Ralph Lewis and sister of the second 
wife of his brother James. They at 
first settled in Nether Providence, but 
sometime afterwards removed to Mid- 
dletown. Joseph died in 1757 and 
Lydia in 1763. Their children were, 
Susanna, Joseph, Benjamin, Samuel, 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



501 



Lydia, Nathan, Jane, Abraham, Jacob 
and William. 

Sharpus, William, emigrated from 
Trererigg in Glamorganshire, Wales, 
and settled in Haverford in 1683. He 
died in November of the next year, and 
was the first person buried in the 
grave-yard belonging to Haverford 
Meeting. His widow, Blanche, was 
married to Owen Morgan. His daugh- 
ter, Mary, was married to William 
Bevan of Newtown in 1705. 

Shipley, Elizabeth, daughter of the 
colonist Samuel Levis, was born in 
Springfield Township in 1690. In the 
prime of youth she exhibited a serious 
turn of mind, and in her twenty-fourth 
year appeared as a minister among 
Friends. In 1725, in company with 
Jane Fenn, she paid a religious visit 
to New England, Long Island and Bar- 
badoes. In 1728 she was married to 
William Shipley, a widower, who a few 
years before had emigrated from " Lox- 
ley and Uttoxeter" in Staffordshire, 
England, and settled in Springfield. 
Here they resided till 1736, when they 
removed to the present site of Wil- 
mington, where Elizabeth was instru- 
mental in establishing a meeting. In 
1743 she made a religious visit to 
England, Scotland and Ireland, and 
later in life made similar visits to dis- 
tant parts in her own country. Some 
time before her death, which happened 
in 1777, she removed to West Marl- 
borough. She was aged eighty-seven at 
the time of her decease, and had been a 
preacher sixty-three years. She is said 
to have been " lively and edifying in 
her ministry," and in prayer '• awful 
and weighty." William Shipley had 
four children by his first wife-, all of 
whom immigrated with him. 

SiJicocK, John. No early settler in 
Pennsylvania possessed the confidence 
of the Proprietary to a greater extent 
than John Simcock. Arriving in the 
Province about the same time with 
Penn, he was immediately taken into 
his Council, a position he occupied till 
1690. Besides being a member of the 
Free Society of Traders, he was on his 
own account one of the largest pur- 
chasers of Pennsylvania lands in Eng- 
land. His place of residence was Ridley 
in Cheshire. Upon his arrival he located 



2,875 acres of his purchase east of 
Ridley Creek, and immediately back of 
a tier of Swedish plantations that occu- 
pied the whole river front, in what 
subsequently became the township of 
Ridley — named no doubt from the place 
whence he emigrated. 

Besides being one of the Council, he 
was a member of Assembly and some- 
times speaker of that bodj' ; was a jus- 
tice of the Court and frequently pre- 
sided ; was a Commissioner to settle a 
difficulty with Lord Baltimore, and 
deputy president of the Free Society of 
Traders. In England he had been a 
severe sufferer on account of his devo- 
tion to the principles and practices of 
the Quakers. At one time he was im- 
prisoned fifteen months, and at different 
times his persecutors distrained from 
him property to the amount of several 
hundred pounds. The various secular 
employments in which he was engaged 
after his arrival in this country had no 
effect in lessening his zeal in " the 
cause of truth." He was here " a 
nursing father in Israel, tender over the 
seed of God, and wherever he saw it in 
the least appearance, he was a cher- 
isher of it without respect to persons ; 
but he abhorred deceit and hypocrisy." 
As a preacher in the Society, few in 
his time had a better standing. In veiy 
early times meetings were held at his 
house, and though his time was much 
occupied with business, his religious 
duties were not neglected. He found 
opportunities to pay religious visits to 
the neighboring provinces of Maryland 
and Virginia, and even to New England. 
He was active in visiting George Keith 
with a view of restoring him to the 
true faith, but after all efforts had fail- 
ed, he joined in the testimony against 
him. He died on 7th of the 1st monfh, 
(March,) 1703, aged 73 years, having 
on the day before his death expressed 
to those around him his firm confidence 
in the faith that he had kept, and in 
its sufficiency to secure a life eternal. 

Simcock, John, Jr., son of the above, 
arrived in Pennsylvania with his father. 
He at one time held the office of Deputy 
Recorder for Chester County by ap- 
pointment of Thomas Story, but in the 
latter part of his time became intem- 
perate and did not prosper. 

Simcock, Jacob, son of John the 



502 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



elder, immigrated to this country with 
him and settled in Ridley. Early in 
the year 1685, he was married to Alice, 
danghter of George Maris of the 
"Home House" in Springfield town- 
ship. He, also, like his father was a 
public Friend; travelled as a minister, 
and held public trusts. He was ap- 
pointed Deputy Register General under 
James Claypole in 1686, and probably 
for a short time resided in Philadelphia. 
He died about the year 1V16. His wife 
survived him ten years. Their chil- 
dren were John, Jacob, Benjamin, 
Hannah and Mary. 

SiMCocK, George, one of the original 
purchasers of land in England, lived in 
Darby (now Upper Darby) township 
in 1691, but when he immigrated, is 
not known. He was from Ridley in 
Cheshire, and may have been a brother 
of the elder John Simcock, but it is 
not certain that he was, or that he was 
a member of the Society of Friends. 

Smedley, George, migrated from 
Derbyshire, England, in 1682 or 1683 in 
company with several of the Friends 
who settled at Darby, and for some 
years after his arrival, he resided in 
Philadelphia. In 1687, he was married 
to Sarah Goodwin whose maiden name 
was Kitchen, the widow of his intimate 
friend, John Goodwin. The marriage 
was accomplished " at the meeting- 
house upon the front of the Delaware.'' 
His wife had one child by her first 
marriage, but it died in its minority. 
Shortly after his marriage, George 
Smedley removed to a tract of land he 
had purchased from the Proprietary, 
smd which was surveyed to him in 
1684, in the township of Middletown. 
Here he erected his dwelling-house on 
the west bank of Ridley Creek about 
one mile northwest of the present 
town of Media. The mansion farm is 
still in possession of his descend- 
ants. His wife Sarah died in 1709. 
About the year 1721, after having 
settled his son George on the man- 
sion farm, he removed to Willis- 
town, where he resided with his son 
Thomas till his death in 1723. He had 
five children: Thomas, who married 
Sarah the daughter of Joseph Baker of 
Edgniont, in 1710 ; Mary, who first in- 
termarried with John Edge, Jr., and 
afterwards with John Yarnall of Willis- 



town ; George, (a minister among 
Friends,) who married Jane Sharpless 
in 1717, and. after her death, Mary the 
daughter of William Hammons ; Sarah, 
who intermarried with John William- 
son of Newtown, and Alice Avhose first 
husband was John Allen of Newtown, 
and the second, Edward Woodward of 
Middletown. 

George Smedley did not incline to 
be active iu public affairs, but was fre- 
quently appointed to various services 
by the meeting in which he uniformly 
maintained a good standing. With the 
exception of a German named Frede- 
rick William Smedley who settled in 
BroAvnsville about the time of the Revo- 
lutionary war, and a few English 
families who have recently settled in 
Philadelphia, it is believed that all of 
the name of Smedley in Pennsylvania, 
have a common ancestor in the subject 
of this notice. 

Smith, John, emigrated from Harby, 
County of Leicester, England, and set- 
tled in Darby in 1684. He was born 
iu that County in 1645, and at the early 
age of fourteen, became convinced of 
the truth of the doctrine of the Society 
of Friends, and sometime afterwards 
appeared in the ministry. He lived in 
high esteem among his neighbors, and 
died in great peace of mind in 1714, 
aged sixty-nine years. He left a son 
William, and three daughters, Mary, 
the wife of William Garrett : Sarah, 
the wife of Samuel Sellers, Jr., and 
Martha, the wife of Richard Parker. 

Smith, Eleanor, wife of the above 
named John, came to this country 
with her husband. She was born at 
Harborough, in Leicestershire, her 
maiden name being Dolby. She was 
convinced of religious truth as held by 
Friends, at thirteen years of age, but ■ 
did not appear in the ministry till 
towards the close of her life. An 
aftectionate epistle, addressed by her 
to the Darby Monthly Meeting of women 
Friends, during her last illness, and 
the tender admonitions that she de- 
livered to her family during the same 
period, are a like evidence of intel- 
lectual training and of the sincerity of 
her faith. She died in 1708, aged fifty- 
five years. 

Smith, John, a clergyman of the 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



503 



Presbyterian church, who resided in 
this county about forty years ago, and 
who, though a man of not more than 
ordinai-y ability, effected much good by 
his zeal and industry He was an 
Irishman by birth, and it is said his 
early religious education was under 
the auspices of the Episcopal Church. 
He was a great adv^ocate for temperance, 
and was instrumental in establishing a 
Bible Society in Delaware County. It 
was through his instrumentality that 
funds were collected for building the 
first erected Presbyterian Church in 
Ridley, and the old Blue Church in 
Aston. Though his sermons were 
often tiresome from their lengih he 
made many converts to the church, 
and improved the morals of the people 
of the neighborhoods in which he offici- 
ated. His death was occasioned by 
his horse treading on him as he fell in 
leading him to water. He lived but a 
few days after the accident. 

Smith, Thomas, migrated from Crox- 
ton, in the County of Leicester, England, 
in 1684, with his wife Sarah and two 
daughters, Ann and Dorothy, and settled 
in Darby. They were all in membership 
with Friends. Ann intermarried with 
Robert Smith. Thomas died in 170.5. 

Smith, Robert, from Sawley, in the 
County of Derby, England, settled in 
Darbj-, now Upper Darby township, in 
1691, and was married to Ann the 
daughter of Thomas Smith of Darb}^, 
in 1692. They continued to be mem- 
bers of Friends' Meeting, until they re- 
moved from the County in ] 708, 
previous to which they had seven chil- 
dren, viz : Thomas, Richard, Sarah, 
Robert, Elizabeth, Mary and William. 

Spry, Thomas, was a lawyer, and 
there are no records to show that any 
of that profession practiced earlier on 
the Delaware River. The following is 
the manner of his admission to the bar 
of New Castle County : " Uppon the 
Petition of Thomas Spry that he might 
bee admitted to pleade some people's 
Causes, etc : — The Worpp" Court have 
granted him liberty so long as the 
Petitioner Behaves himselfe well and 
Carrys himselfe answerable thereunto." 
The next year an order was made by 
the Justices that, "the Cryer of the 



Court is to have for every Attorney that 
shall bee admitted & sworne in Court, 
twelve gilders or halfe a bever." By 
his early admission to the bar, Thomas 
escaped this imposition in favor of the 
Cryer, but it was soon afterwards de- 
termmed "that pleading Attorneys 
bee no Longer allowed to practize in 
y^ governm' but for y-' depending 
causes." Thomas was therefore obliged 
to change his business, at least in part, 
for very soon after the prohibition 
against lawyers, we find him engaged 
in the practice of the healing art ; still 
he managed to be concerned in a few 
cases at the l>ar, being substituted for 
the plaintiff by the assignment of his 
claim. He was not unfrequently a 
party or a witness in Court, and on one 
occasion we find him acting as a Juror 
in Upland Court. But the practice of 
Medicine became the most lucrative 
part of his business, though he occa- 
sionally was obliged to make use of the 
law in the collection of his claims for 
"Physiq." Thus in New Castle Court 
in 1679, we have " Thomas Spry 
p''fering in Court a peticon and ace' 
against the Estate of Walter Wharton, 
deceased for Physiq administered unto 
him the said Walter Wharton, the sume 
of 262 gilders : desiering an order ag"-* 
y s'i Estate for s'^ sume — The s'^ Spry 
haveing made oath to y« Justness 
thei'eof. The Court doe grant him an 
order ag'^' y« s'* Estate for y'= b'^ sume 
accordingly." He was also successful 
in the prosecution of a claim against 
" the Church Deacons or Poormasters 
for .500 Gilders for curing Evert Bran- 
ches Legge &c." In this case, how- 
ever, he only received 100 gilders in 
money, but it was ordered \jy the Court 
" that y<= s'5 Deakons shall deliver unto 
s'^ Doctor Spry, y'^ Corne belonging to 
y" Poore at present upon half Increase 
with hans Schner after y^ tyme shall 
bee expired." Thus this early Doctor 
of Law and of Medicine, harmonized 
the two professions, to the manifest 
benefit of his own pocket. 

Stacket, Moexs, a native of Sweden, 
was the owner, and occupied a tract of 
land in Calken Hook, as early as 1677, ' 
and was alive in 1693. He \vas one of 
the first supervisors of^the highways 
under the Government of William Penn, 
and served in other public capacities 
under his government, though rather 



504 

given to litigation previous to its es- 
tablishment. 

Stanfield, Francis, with his wife 
Grace and family, were among the 
earliest settlers of Marple township, 
(1683.) They were Friends, and proba- 
bly advanced in years at the time of their 
arrival from England. Francis died in 
1692, and his wife one year eai-lier. 
James Stanfield, the son of Francis, in- 
termarried with Mary Hutchinson of 
Burlington, N. J., in 1689. His daugh- 
ters were Mary, who intermarried with 
William Huntly of Birmingham ; Eliza- 
beth, with Thomas Hoops ; Grace, with 
Francis Chadds, and Hannah, with 
Isaac Few. Francis Stanfield repre- 
sented Chester County in the Provincial 
Assembly in 1685. One or more meet- 
ings of Friends was held at his house 
before a meeting was established at 
Bartholomew Coppock's. 

Steedman, Joseph, with his wife 
Margaret, had migrated from England, 
and settled in Springfield township as 
early as 1684. They were Friends in 
good standing. Joseph died in 1698, 
but it does not appear that he left any 
children. The ne.xt year his widow 
married John Blunston of Darby. 

Stille, Oloff or Oele, one of the 
earliest of the Swedish Colonists " came 
from the lordship of Penningby and 
Nyanes, in the dutchy of Lodermania, 
about SO. miles south of Stockholm," 
which at his birth was in possession of 
the noble family of Bielke. He may 
have accompanied the first Swedish 
expedition to the Delaware, though 
there is no certain evidence of his 
presence on the River, till after the 
arrival of Governor Printz. He brought 
with him a passport or certificate of 
character bearing date December 2, 
1634. This would seem to indicate 
that he had intended to join an expedi- 
tion projected earlier than that which 
arrived under Minuit. Still it is quite 
probable that he came with Governor 
Printz. In 1646, we find him employed 
by that functionaiy in carrying an 
official protest to Andreas Hudde, 
against the encroachments of the Dutch 
West India Company upon the rights 
of the Swedes. From this period for 
many years, he was one of the princi- 
pal men of the Colony ; and even while 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



the Dutch held the ascendancy on the 
river, in 1658, he was appointed one of 
four Commissioners to administer jus- 
tice among the inhabitants embraced 
in the Upper Settlements. His planta- 
tion within the limits of this County, 
was at the mouth of Ridley Creek, and 
on Lindstrom's map is marked " Stilles 
land." By the Indians it was called 
Techorassi, who stjded Oloflf, " the man 
with the black beard." In 1661, he 
became dissatisfied with the Dutch rule 
on the river, and, with a few Finns 
visited Maryland, for the purpose of 
taking up land and emigrating there ; 
but not finding his friends, settled on 
the Sassafras River in a satisfactory 
condition, he abandoned the project. 
He may have parted with Stille' s land at 
this time. At all events, that property 
passed into the hands of Laurentius 
Carolus, the Swedish clergyman, and 
we next find Oloff a resident of Moya- 
mensing — a taxable and purchaser of 
land there. In 16*73, he served by ap- 
pointment of Upland Court as an arbi- 
trator in determining a dispute about 
land in Kingsessing. To the award of 
the arbitrators, lie signs his name 
" Oluff Stilla." When his death occur- 
red is not Jvuown, but he was certainly 
alive in 1678, when he resided inMoya- 
mensing, and made application to the 
Court to take up Marsh lands near that 
place. He was the ancestor of the 
present Stille family. 

Stille, John, son of the above 
named Oloff, was born near Tinicum in 
1646, and died on the 24th of April, 
1722. His remains were interred in the 
burying ground of the Wicaco Church, 
where his tombstone still remains. He 
was one of the original trustees of that 
church, and the pastor in recording his 
death adds : " He lived a godly life 
in this world." It is not known, that 
Oloff Stille had any other child. 

Swafper, William, arrived in the 
country, and settled in Nether Provi- 
dence about the year 1684. He M'as 
unmarried, and like his brother James 
Swaffer, and nearly every other im- 
migrant at this period, he was in mem- 
bership with Friends. There is reason 
to believe that he migrated with his 
brother from Cheshire, England. In 
1694, he was married to Mary Cald- 
well. Their children were, Rebecca, 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



505 



Jacob, Joseph, Mary and Hannah. 
William died in 1720. 

SwAFFER James, emigrated from 
Newton, Cheshire, England, as early 
as 1684, and settled in Upper Provi- 
dence. He was unmarried at the time 
of his arrival, but in 1685 he married 
Elizabeth, the daughter of Jolm Houl- 
ston, a neighboring colonist; the mar- 
riage being accomplished according to 
the usages of the Society of Friends, of 
which he was a member. After hav- 
ing resided for some time in Provi- 
dence, he removed to Philadelphia, 
and subsequently to Cain, in Chester 
County, where he died in 1714. His 
children, so far as is known, were 
Elizabeth, Mary, James and William. 
He was a brother of William Swaffer, 
the colonist, who probably immigrated 
with him. 

Tanten, Hendrick, (^sometimes 
Thaden,) doubtless became a settler at 
Amesland, under the Dutch Govern- 
ment. His land " on which he re- 
sided," was surveyed and confirmed to 
him in 1675. He died in 1703, having 
in his will, executed shortly before his 
death, given directions for his burial, 
" in the burial place at Chester alias 
Upland." Hence it may be inferred 
that he was a Dutch Episcopalian, and 
not a Swede. 

Taylor, Christopher, supposed to 
have been born near Skipton, in York- 
shire — officiated for a time as a Puritan 
preacher until in 1652, he was con- 
vinced of the truth of Quaker doctrine, 
by George Fox. Soon after his con- 
vincement, he became eminent as a 
minister among Friends ; traveled much 
as a preacher, and was subjected to a 
full share of the persecution against 
Quakers that was usual in that age of 
bigotry ; was imprisoned several times, 
and on one occasion, under much cruel 
treatment, for the space of two years. 
In the exercise of his profession, as 
the teacher of a classical school, he 
met with much opposition, and was 
obliged to remove from place to place ; 
his last school being at Edmonton, in 
Middlesex. On leaving this school, in 
1682, to emigrate to Pennsylvania, he 
was succeeded by the noted George 
Keith. Upon his arrival here he first 
settled in Bucks County, which he re- 



presented in the first Assembly at 
Chester. He was likewise a member 
of the first Provincial Council after the 
arrival of Penn, and was continued in 
that office till his death, in 1686. He 
also held the office of Register-general 
of the Province for some time, and was 
one of the commissioners appointed by 
William Penn to treat with the govern- 
ment of West Jersey. 

In July, 1684, he appears as one of 
the Justices of Chester Court, when he 
had probably established himself on 
Tinicum Island, which was conveyed 
to him shortly afterwards. He had a 
son Israel, who was a surgeon, (chir- 
urgeon,) and to whom, in 1685, he 
granted 500 acres of land at Neshaminy 
and 1000 acres elsewhere. In this 
grant he speaks of himself as a school- 
master, and of his residence as being 
on " Tinicum, alias College Island." 

" His literary qualifications were con- 
siderable, and he frequently exercised 
his pen in the cause of truth." He 
was well acquainted with Latin, Greek 
and Hebrew, and in 1679 published his 
" Compendium Trium Liuguarum" of 
those languages. He was unquestion- 
ably one of the best scholars who 
arrived with the first settlers. Besides 
his son Israel he had a son Joseph and 
a daughter Mary, who, in 1690, mar- 
ried John Buzby, of Philadelphia. 
Israel succeeded his father on Tinicum, 
and continued to own and occupy the 
whole island till his death, in 1726. 
He had eleven children, but devised 
the island to his three sons, Christo- 
pher, Benjamin and Israel. 

Taylor, John. Soon after the settle- 
ment of Christopher Taylor on Tinicum, 
we find him concerned in leasing a 
small piece of land on that island to 
John Taylor, to be used as a garden 
or nursery. After the death of Chris- 
topher Taylor, i\i& family of John Tay- 
lor, with Hugh Durborow, removed to 
Thornbury, and in 1687 presented a 
joint certificate to Concord Monthly 
Meeting, which was accepted. The 
name of this John Taylor does not ap- 
pear afterwards, and it is presumed 
that he was deceased at the time the 
certificate was presented to the meet- 
ing. The family mentioned doubtless 
consisted, at least in part, of his two 
sons, Jacob and Isaac. Two certificates 
from Wiltshire, England, were present- 



506 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



ed to the Philadelphia Meeting of 
Friends in 1684, recommending a John 
Taylor, but it is not certain that thej^ 
were presented by the subject of this 
notice. 

Taylor, Jacob, son of the above 
named John, was a mathematician, and 
in his younger days a practical sur- 
veyor. He made astronomy a par- 
ticular study, and during many years 
published an Almanac, in which he 
gave place to scraps of poetry com- 
posed by himself. About the com- 
mencement of the past century he was 
appointed Surveyor- General of Penn- 
sylvania, which office he held till the 
time of his death, the exact period of 
which is not known. He was alive, 
but evidently very infirm, at the death 
of his brother Isaac, in 1*728. He never 
married. He was in membership with 
Friends. 

Tayloe, Isaac, son of the above John, 
and brother of Jacob, was also a sur- 
veyor, and likewise a " practitioner of 
Physick." He was appointed Deputy 
Surveyor for Chester County about the 
year 1701, by his brother Jacob, and 
continued to hold that oflSce, and to 
perform its arduous duties till the time 
of his death, in 1728. He also prac- 
ticed the healing art during this period. 
In 1694 he married Martha, the daugh- 
ter of Philip Roman, by whom he had 
five children, viz., John, Philip, Jacob, 
Ann and Mary. Isaac Taylor was em- 
ployed on behalf of Pennsylvania in 
running the circular line which sepa- 
rates the State from Delaware, a ser- 
vice for which he was well fitted by 
his superior mathematical knowledge. 
The question is presented — how did the 
brothers, Jacob and Isaac Taylor, ob- 
tain their mathematical knowledge ? 
The answer to this query is readily 
suggested in the fact that they resided 
some years at Tinicum, where Chris- 
topher Taylor, doubtless a relative, 
taught a school specially for the instruc- 
tion of youth in the higher branches 
of knowledge, a task for which he was 
eminently qualified. I am indebted to 
Professor John P. Frazer, of the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, who is a lineal 
descendant of Isaac Taylor, for an op- 
portunity to examine the Taylor papers. 
Many of these papers are still in a 
good state of preservation. 



Taylor, John, the oldest son of 
Isaac Taylor, was a prominent man. 
He was born in 1695, and in 1718 
was married to Mary Baker, a widow. 
He was a physician and a surveyor, 
and established iron works at or near 
the site of Glen Mills, on Chester 
Creek, which he conducted with ener- 
gy till the time of his death, in 1756. 
He served the office of Sheriff of Chester 
County ten years, and represented the 
County in the Provincial Assembly 
several terms. 

Taylor, Peter, with his brother 
William, came from Sutton in Cheshire, 
England, and arrived at Chester as 
early as 1682. The brothers settled 
on adjoining tracts of land near the 
present site of Media. Peter being un- 
married at the time of his arrival was 
united in matrimony with Sarah, the 
daughter of his neighbor, John Houl- 
ston, in the early part of 1685, agree- 
ably to the good order of the Society 
of Friends, of which he was a consis- 
tent member. As is usual in the set- 
tlement of new countries, the immigra- 
tion of young men to our favored land 
at first greatly exceeded that of young 
women, and such respectable spin- 
sters as arrived, did not remain in 
that condition very long. As evidence 
of this, three daughters of John 
Houlston passed meeting and were 
probably married on the same day, 1st 
mo. 2d., 1685, Sarah with Peter Tay- 
lor, Elizabeth with James SwaQer and 
Reloecca with William Gregory, while 
a fourth daughter, Martha, was married 
to David Ogden before the close of the 
same year. The children of Peter and 
Sarah Taylor were Peter, John, Sarah, 
William and Samuel. He removed to 
East Cain and died in 1720, probably 
at the residence of his son, William. 

Taylor, William, was a brother of 
Peter Taylor, came from the same place 
and settled on an adjoining tract of 
land in Upper Providence, but he had 
scarcely become established at his new 
home in the wilderness, when he was, 
on the 6th of the 1st mo., 16t3, called 
upon to pay the inevitable debt of 
nature, his wife, Margaretta, having 
died three days previously. He left 
one son, Joseph, who died without 
issue, and two daughters, Elizabeth 
and Mary. 



3^ 






^ 




BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



507 



Taylor, Robert, emigrated from 
Little Leigh, County of Chester, Eng- 
land, and was settled in Springfield 
township as early as 1684. His wife, 
Mary, there is reason to believe was a 
sister to Justice Jonathan Hayes, who 
settled about the same time in Marple. 
Robert died in 1695, leaving his wife 
and a number of children to survive 
him. His widow married Joseph Selsby 
in 1701. Of his children, Isaac inter- 
married with Sarah Broad well, of Dub- 
lin Meeting ; Josiah with Elizabeth, 
daughter of Robert Pennell ; Mary with 
Henry Lewis, of Haverford ; Phebe 
with Thomas Massey, of Marple, and 
after his death, with Bartholomew 
Coppock, of Marple ; Thomas with 

Hannah , and Jonathan with Mar^- 

tha Hugh. He also had a son Jacob 
and other children. During the short 
time Rnbert Taylor was permitted to 
enjoy his new home in America, he 
gained the confidence and respect of 
his fellow-citizens, and as a member of 
the Society of Friends he was highly 
esteemed. His widow died in 1728. 

Taylor, Thomas, with his wife, 
Frances, resided in Worthenby, in 
Flintshire, and purchased land in 
Pennsylvania, but whether Thomas 
emigrated before his death, which 
happened in 1682, is not certain. At 
all events, early in 1684, his widow, 
Frances, was here, and became the 
wife of John Worrall. Thomas Taylor 
had two sons, Thomas and Philip. 
Philip married Ann, the daughter of 
Thomas and Mary Conway, in 1705, 
and settled in Thornbury. He died in 
1732. His descendants are very nu- 
merous. 

Taylor, Isaac, was the eldest son of 
Robert Taylor of Springfield, and 
doubtless immigrated with his father. 
Tn 1689, he was married to Sarah 
Broadwell of Dublin Monthly Meeting, 
Philadelphia County, according to the 
usages of Friends. Their children 
were Isaac, John, Joseph, Mary, Benja- 
min, Sarah, Elizabeth and Josiah. 

Test, John, emigrated from London, 
and was a resident of Upland as early 
as 1677. Here he engaged in the mer- 
cantile business, but upon the establish- 
ment of Penn's Government in 1681, 
he was appointed Sheriff of Upland 



County, which ofiSce he held till after 
the arrival of the Proprietary, and the 
division of Upland County into the three 
Counties of Philadelphia, Chester and 
Bucks. He now removed to the em- 
bryo City of Brotherly Love, and be- 
came the first Sheriff of the newly 
organized County of Philadelphia. 
After some time he removed within our 
limits again, and kept a tavern at 
Darby ; at which place and in that oc- 
cupation he died in 1718, leaving three 
children, Thomas, John and Margaret. 
It is not certain that John Test was a 
Friend, but his wife Elizabeth, who 
died in Philadelphia in 1689, was in 
membership with that Society, 

Thatcher, Richard, with his wife 
and a family of several children, came 
from England. They were Quakers at 
the time of their arrival, which must 
have been two or three years after the 
first visit of Penn. His settlement was 
in Thornbury, adjoining the land of 
William Brinton the colonist, whose 
only son William married his daughter 
Jean. His son Jonathan intermarried 
with Hannah Dix. There is reason to 
believe that Richard Thatcher migrated 
from UflSngton in Berkshire, where he 
had suffered persecution on account of 
his religion. He died in 1722. 

Thomas, William, with his wife, were 
among the earliest settlers of Radnor, 
but dying in 1689 without children, he 
devised his estate to a nephew of the 
same name, then residing in Wales, on 
condition that he would come and re- 
side in this country. The nephew Wil- 
liam, who was a ma.ried man with a 
family, complied with the condition 
imposed by his uncle's will, and settled 
where he had resided. They were all 
members of the Society of Friends. 
The eldest son Thomas, of the nephew 
William, married Tamar the daughter 
of Samuel Miles, and his son John, 
married Mary daughter of Richard 
Ormes. Both uncle and nephew had 
suffered religious persecution in Wales. 

Thomas, Peter, was an early settler 
in Springtown, (Springfield.) In 1686, 
he married Sarah Steadman of the same 
place. They were Friends, and appear 
to have removed to Willistown, where 
he was still living in unity with that 
Society in 1722. 



508 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Thompson, George, came a passenger 
on board of the ship Welcome, in com- 
pany with the Proprietary, in 1682, and 
at first settled on rented land in Concord 
township, but subsequently became the 
owner of land in that township. George 
Thompson was not in membership with 
Friends. In 1683, he was married to 
Merriam Short, by the Swedish Priest, 
" contrary to the laws of the province," 
for which offence all the parties to the 
marriage were arraigned before the 
Court. 

Trego, Peter, was probably a resi- 
dent in some other place in the country, 
before he made a purchase of fifty acres 
of land in 1708, in Middletown, for 
" £14, or good merchantable wheat at 
market price." His wife's name was 
Judith, and he had a son Jacob, and a 
son Peter. Jacob was born in 1687, 
and in 1710, married Mary the daughter 
of Edmund Cartledge of Darby, and 
resided in Merion till 1717, when he 
removed to Middletown, where he re- 
sided at the time of his decease in 
1720. He left three children, Hannah, 
John and Rachel. 

Tucker, Richard, migrated from 
Warminster, County of Wilts, England, 
in 1683, and settled in Darby township 
west of the Creek. He was in mem- 
bership with Friends. 

Usher, Thomas, the first Sheriff of 
Chester County, arrived at Chester at 
or about the time of the first visit of 
William Penn to the Province, and 
probably resided at that place during 
his official term, one year. Having 
purchased land adjoining Chichester, 
(Marcus Hook,) he removed to that 
place, was commissioned a Justice of 
the Peace, and assisted in holding the 
County Courts, and also served a second 
term as sheriff, and was a member of 
the Provincial Assembly several years. 
He was a member of the Society of 
Friends, but did not take such an active 
part in -meeting affairs as was usual 
in that day, for men of his standing. 
He died about the year 1690. 

Van Kulin, John, an early Dutch 
settler in that part of Ridley known as 
Amesland. His deposition was read 
in the celebrated Pennsylvania Witch- 
trial ; his neighborhood being the 



scene of the occurrences which gave 
rise to it. George Van Kulin, donbt- 
less his son was residing in the same 
neighborhood in 1722. His descen- 
dants are numerous, but the name is 
changed to Culin. 

Van Leer, Dr. Bernhard, was the 
son of John George, and Mary Von 
Lbhr, who were the ancestors of the 
Vanleer family in Pennsylvania, and 
who with their family migrated to that 
Province from Germany in 1697. The 
subject of this notice was bt)rn at or 
near Isenberg, in the Electorate of 
Hesse, and was but eleven years of 
age when he arrived in this country. 
The family upon their arrival set- 
tled in Marple township ; at first on the 
farm now owned by Felix Velotte, but 
subsequently on that owned by the heirs 
of Garrett Williamson. Bernhard or 
Bernhardus, as he was then called, re- 
mained a few years with his father 
and then returned to Germany for the 
purpose of studying medicine in his 
native countiy. It is said that he was 
accompanied by a neighboring youth, 
named John Worrell, who had the 
same object in view. Young Van Leer 
remained in his native country seven 
years, and not only studied medicine 
but also the classics and French. Some 
time after his retuim to this country, 
and shortly after he commenced the 
practice of his profession, he was united 
in marriage with Mary Branson the 
daughter of a wealthy merchant of 
Philadelphia. The Doctor then resided 
on the latter of the above mentioned 
farms, where he continued to reside 
during the remainder of his long life. 
After giving birth to five children, (two 
of whom, Branson and Benjamin became 
physicians,) his wife died. His second 
wife was much younger than himself. 
By her he had nine children, one of 
whom was the late Bernard Van Leer. 

The practice of Dr. Van Leer, was 
chiefly conducted in his office. It is 
said that in the diagnosis of disease he 
relied very much upon the appearance 
of some of the secretions that were 
brought to him for inspection. His 
remedies for the most part were from 
the vegetable kingdom and generally 
of the mildest kind. 

Dr. Van Leer was a man of great 
physical vigor. In his one hundreth year , 
he rode on horseback from Marple to 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



509 



hi& Chester valley farm, a distance of 
thirty miles, in one day. In his one hun- 
dred and second year, he was cruelly 
mal-treated by burglars who entered 
his house, because he refused to dis- 
close his hidden treasure. He did not 
fully recover from the injuries then re- 
ceived. He died on the 26th of January, 
1790, aged one hundred and four years. 
The father of Dr. Van Leer died in 
1748, when he left a second wife named 
Rebecca. For a more full notice of Dr. 
Van Leer, written by Dr. Charles Mor- 
ton, see" The 3Iedical Reporter" No. vii. 

Vernon, Thomas, from " Stanthorne," 
County Palatine, of Chester, England, 
arrived a little before or with the Pro- 
prietary, in 1682. He served as a juror 
at the first Court held for the County 
of Chester. He, with his brother, Ran- 
dal Vernon, settled on adjoining tracts 
of land in Nether Providence, and for 
some time occupied but one dwelling, 
at which the monthly meetings of the 
Society of Friends in early times were 
frequently held. He was an exemplary 
member of the Society, and a good 
citizen. Died, 1698. Thomas had not 
entirely escaped religious persecution 
in England. 

Vernon, Randal, from " Sandyway," 
Cheshire, England, no doubt immi- 
grated to the Province with his brothers, 
Thomas and Robert, and located his 
land in Nether Providence between the 
tracts located by them. Besides being 
an active and influential member of 
the Society of Friends, he was fre- 
quently entrusted with public business. 
In 1687 he served as a member of the 
Provincial Assembly. He died in 1725 
at the advanced age of eighty-five 
years, having survived his wife, Sarah, 
six years. 

Vernon, Robert, came from Stoaks, 
in Cheshire, England. He was a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends, but did 
not take such an active part in meet- 
ing affairs as Thomas and Randal, 
though the monthly meetings were 
sometimes held at his house. The time 
of his death is not known; but he was 
alive in 1710, and that year conveyed 
his brick messuage and 330 acres of land, 
where he resided, to his son Jacob. 
His wife, Elinor, who came with him 



from England and survived him, died 
in 1720. 

Vernon, Job, Captain in the Revolu- 
tionary Army, was born in Lower Pro- 
vidence, about the year 1750. He 
entered the army at the commencement 
of the Revolutionary war, and served 
faithfully and without intermission 
until its termination and the disband- 
ing of the army. His name appears in 
the lists, printed by order of Congress, 
of officers who served to the end of the 
war, and thereby acquired the right to 
half-pay and bounty lands, and also as 
one of the founders of the Society of 
Cincinnati. He was commissioned 
Ensign in Capt. Thomas Church's com- 
pany of Col. Anthony Wayne's Penn- 
sylvania Battalion, January 5th, 1776, 
and was promoted to be Lieutenant ija 
Capt. Thomas Robinson's company of 
the same battalion, October 1st, 1776. 
In 1779 and 1780 he was paymaster of 
the Fifth Pennsylvania Regiment, which 
was then commanded by Col. Francis 
Johnston, and in which he also held 
the commission of Captain This regi- 
ment was attached to the Army of the 
North, and seems to have participated 
in all its services up to the storming of 
Stony Point. Captain Vernon died in 
Concord township about the year 1810. 
From fragments of his accounts and 
other documents in the possession of a 
relative, he seems to have been an inti- 
mate acquaintance and favorite of 
General Wayne, and a very brave and 
judicious officer. 

Vernon, Frederick, Major in the Re- 
volutionary Army, a cou.'^in of the pre- 
ceding officer, was also born in Lower 
Providence ;, but nothing of his per- 
sonal history nor any account of his 
military services is known to be pre- 
served. His name appears on the lists 
above referred to as one who served 
faithfully to the end of the war, and he 
was also one of the founders of the 
Society of Cincinnati. He was Major 
in the First Pennsylvania Regiment of 
Infantry. 

Wade, Robert, with his wife, Lydia, 
were among the very earliest of the 
English settlers that located them- 
selves within our limits, as they were, 
with scarcely S doubt, the first Quakers 
who fixed their pei-manent abode with- 



610 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



in the bounds of Pennsylvania. When 
the celebrated preacher, William Ed- 
mondson, visited Upland in 1675, he 
found Robert Wade residing there, and 
held a meeting at his house. It is 
almost certain that Robert and his vs^ife 
came as passengers on the ship Griffith 
from London, the same j^ear and in 
company with John Fenwick, the pio- 
neer settler of West Jersey, as he had 
purchased land from Fenwick in Eng- 
land, and Samuel and Edward Wade 
are known to have come out with him. 
The residence of Robert Wade, known 
as the Essex House, was on the west 
side of Chester Creek and a little south 
of the post road. It has been shown 
elsewhere that it was upon the same 
premises that had been granted to Mrs. 
Pappegoj-a, the daughter of Governor 
Printz, and shortly before occupied by 
her under the name of Printzdorp. May 
not the Essex House, the first Quaker 
residence and the first Quaker meet- 
ing-house in Pennsylvania, have been 
the mansion of the daughter of its first 
Governor? The conclusion is almost 
irresistible. 

As a Quaker, Robert Wade was very 
attentive to meeting affairs for a time. 
The earliest monthly meetings of which 
there is any record were held at his 
house ; but towards the close of his 
life, though he retained his member- 
ship, the records do not show his ac- 
tive participation in meeting business. 
He was a justice of the first Court for 
Upland County under the proprietary 
government, and was continued in that 
capacity for Chester County several 
years after it had been organized. He 
was also a member of the Assembly 
for several years at the commencement 
of Penn's government, as he had been 
of Governor Markham's Council before 
the arrival of the Proprietary. He died 
about the year 1698, his wife surviving 
him till 1701. They died childless. 

Weaver, Anthony, was an early set- 
tler on Chester Creek, at a place called 
Northly. In 1686 being in want of a 
wife, and it being rather difficult to find 
one in his vicinity at that time who 
was not a Quaker, he selected one of 
that persuasion, Ann Richard, the 
daughter of a near neighbor, with whom 
he proceeded to the meeting and made 
the usual preliminary proposal. The 
meeting duly considered the matter, 



and although Anthony " owned him- 
self to be none of us," yet, being will- 
ing to submit to the order of Friends, 
they were allowed to proceed. 

Wharton, Walter, was a man of 
considerable note on the Delaware 
river, under the government of the 
Duke of York. In 1671 Governor Love- 
lace conferred on him the appointment 
of Surveyor General " on the west side 
of the Delaware ;" an office for which 
he had not been properly educate^. 
But, it may be supposed there were 
none better in the settlement, for he was 
again reinstated in his office after the 
government passed a second time into 
the hands of the English ; while at 
the same time he held a commission 
as one of the Justices of New Castle 
County, in which County he seems to 
have resided till about the year 1677, 
when he became the tenant of a dwell- 
ing-house in Upland, in consequence, 
it may be supposed, of a prosecution 
instituted against him at New Castle, 
by certain clergymen and others, " for 
marrying himselfe, or for being married 
contrary to y^ knowne lawes of Eng- 
land, and also of the lawes of this Pro- 
vince." The matter was regarded b}' 
his brother justices of New Castle as 
presenting too grave a question for 
their determination, and consequently 
they referred it to the Governor. Be- 
fore the close of the following year 
(1678), death relieved his persecutors, 
the Court and his Excellency, from 
further trouble in the premises. His 
marriage may have been after the man- 
ner of the Quakers. The Court at New- 
castle allowed fifty gilders out of his es- 
tate to pay the Dutch clergyman of that 
place for preaching his funeral sermon ! 

Wharton, Robert, came from Cum- 
berland County, Wales, in 1697, and 
was unmarried. His certificate was 
from Pardsday Monthly Meeting, which 
commended him as " a man of sober 
life," and one who had walked orderly 
as became the blessed Truth. At first 
he settled in Merlon, but in 1701 he 
married Rachel, the daughter of Thos. 
Ellis, of Haverford, who was possessed 
of a large landed estate, when he re- 
moved to that township. Rachel died 
a few years after their marriage ; after 
which, in 1707, he entered into a ma- 
trimonial engagement with Jane Heut, 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



511 



and had proceeded so far as, in the 
language of Friends, to " pass meeting" 
with her. But some difference having 
arisen between them, 'they came before 
the meeting and mutually released each 
other. This was the second time that 
this ladj' had " passed meeting" and 
recanted. 

Williamson, Daniel, immigrated to 
Pennsylvania at an early date, but was 
not among the earliest colonists. He 
was in membership with Friends, was 
unmarried, and probably came from 
Cheshire, England. In 1685 he mar- 
ried Mary Smith at Chester Meeting, 
and settled in Newtown township pro- 
bably after his marriage. He was a 
man of considerable influence, fre- 
quently represented Chester County in 
the Provincial Assembly, and, in 1727, 
died while a member of that body. His 
children were, Robert, Daniel, John, 
Marj^, Thomas, Joseph, Margaret and 
Abigail. The site of his dwelling is 
now that of the residence of Mrs. Lydia 
Thomas. His son John was a noted 
Quaker preacher. 

William, Hugh, an early settler in 
Radnor, intermarried with Susanna 
Griffith in 1693, and continued to reside 
in that township. Their children were 
Elizabeth, Catharine, Job and Susanna. 
They were Friends, and doubtless both 
Welsh immigrants. He was the owner 
in 1711 of the mill now owned by 
Tryon Lewis, and it may have been 
erected by him. 

Willis, John, came from England, 
and about the year 1700 settled in the 
west end of Thornbury. He does not 
appear to have been a Quaker, though 
he intermarried with Esther, the young- 
est daughter of William Brinton the 
elder. He died in 1732, leaving a son 
John and two daughters, Esther and 
Ann — also a second wife, Mary. 

Withers, Ralph, came from Bishop's 
Canning, in Wiltshire, England, and 
settled at Upland sometime before the 
arrival of William Penn For a time 
he held the office of Deputy Treasurer 
of the Free Society of Traders, and 
was afterwards one of the Justices of 
Chester County, and sat as a Justice 
with the Proprietary, at the first Court 
for that County, over which he presided. 



He was also for a short period a mem- 
ber of the Provincial Council. He had 
been identified with the Quakers since 
1657. In 1660 he suffered imprison- 
ment on account of his religious prin- 
ciples, and again in 1678, for having 
married contrary to the directions of 
the church liturgy. He was also one 
of the ministering Friends who issued 
the epistle from London Yearly Meet- 
ing in 1675. He died in 1684. 

Withers, Thomas, was a relative of 
Raljjh Withers, and probably migrated 
from the same place (Wiltshire, Eng- 
land.) He was in membership with 
Friends, and in 1692 was married to 
Elizabeth Collet, according to the 
usages of that Society. He settled in 
Chichester as early as 1684, and be- 
came possessed of considerable lands 
there and elsewhere. He devised his set- 
tlement in Chichester to his eldest son 
Ralph His death occurred in 1720. He 
was the second sheirff of Chester County. 

Wood, George, with his wife, Han- 
nah, and children, came from Bonsall, 
in the County of Derby, England, their 
certificate being from " Matloch, Mony- 
ash and Ashford" Monthly Meeting of 
Friends. He was a man of considera- 
ble property, but advanced in years at 
the time of his arrival in 1682. Seve- 
ral of his family died in a short time 
after he came to the country, but he 
lived till 1705. 

Wood, John, son and heir of the 
above George Wood, immigrated with 
his father, and settled in Darby in 
1682. In 1687 he married Jane, the 
daughter of John and Barbara Bevan, 
of Haverford, by whom he had the fol- 
lowing children, viz ; Ann, George, 
William, John, Barbara, Aubray and 
Abraham. His wife, Jane, dying in 
1703, he, in 1707, married Rebecca 
Faucet, the widow of Walter Faucet, 
(whose maiden name was Fearne) by 
whom he had two children, Joseph 
and Hannah. He died in the year 
1728, at an advanced age. Through 
life he manifested an interest in the 
affairs of the Society of Friends, of 
which he appears to have been a faith- 
ful member. 

Webb, Elizabeth, was eminent as a 
minister among Friends, and in 1697, 



512 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



paid a religious visit to all the Ameri- 
can Colonies where people of that de- 
nomination had settled. Being pleased 
■with the country and its prospects, she, 
with her husband, Richard Webb, emi» 
grated from Gloucestershire, their for- 
mer place of residence in England, in 
1700 or 1701, and settled on the Bran- 
dywine, in Birmingham township, just 
beyond the line that now separates 
Delaware from Chester County. She 
was a lady of rare abilities, and by her 
social intercourse exercised a beneficial 
influence in her neighborhood. By 
the death of her husband, in 1719, she 
was left a widow many years, during 
which time she managed a large farm 
with prudence and judgment, and at 
the same time travelled much in the 
ministry both in this country and in 
England. In 1721 she conveyed a lot 
of ground to the trustees of Birming- 
ham Friends' Meeting, in which her 
remains were many years afterwards 
interred. 

West, William, was a brother of 
Thomas, who settled in Concord, and 
also of John, the father of the painter, 
Benjamin, and doubtless, like them, 
came from London. He at first settled 
in Concord township, but had removed 
to Springfield as early as 1709, when 
he married Deborah, the daughter of 
Bartholomew Coppock. In about a 
year after his marriage, Bartholomew 
Coppock, his father-in-law, conveyed 
to him a farm in Springfield, upon 
which he resided. He was in mem- 
bership with Friends, and in 1720 
died without children. 

West, Thomas, emigrated from Lon- 
don, and purchased a small quantity of 
land in Concord township in 1712. It 
has not been ascertained whether he 
was married before or after his arrival. 
He was in membership with Friends, 
and by trade was a cooper. He was 
brother of John, the father of Benja- 
min West, the great painter. To him 
and his wife Mary were born seven 
children, viz : Thomas, William, Ra- 
chel, Ellen, Mary, Elizabeth and Jo- 
seph. He was living in 1736. 

West, John, the father of Benjamin, 
the painter, immigrated some time after 
his brothers, Thomas and William. He 
was not a Friend, as has been repre- 



sented by Gait and others, during the 
residence of his gifted son in America, 
and when he became a member of that 
Society it was near the close of his 
life. As stated by Mr. Gait, he proba- 
bly arrived in this country about the 
year 1714, and that not long afterwards 
he married Sarah, the daughter of 
Thomas Pearson, but this marriage ivas 
not accomplished according to the good or- 
der of the Society of Friends. John West 
probably followed the seas as an occu- 
pation for some years. In 1722 he was 
a resident of Upper Providence, and 
owner of a small tract of land in that 
township. In 1735 he resided in Ches- 
ter, probably in the borough. A year 
or two later we find John West a tax- 
able in Springfield township, and then 
it is to be presumed he occupied the 
farm and dwelling at which his son 
Benjamin was born ; but he did not 
own this property, and it has not been 
ascertained that he ever owned land in 
Chester County, except the small tract 
in Upper Providence which he first oc- 
cupied. In a few years after the birth 
of his son, Benjamin, he removed to 
Newtown township, and engaged in 
keeping tavern at Newtown Square, 
in which township he resided many 
years, though it is not known how 
long he continued in the same busi- 
ness. 

Notwithstanding all that has been 
said hj Gait, in his life of Benjamin 
West, in respect to the strict Quaker- 
ism of the parents of the great painter, 
the records of the Society have been 
searched in vain for any evidence to 
connect his father with the Society of 
Friends, till the year 1759. In that 
year "John West, with the approba- 
tion of Newtown Meeting," made appli- 
cation to come under the care of Go- 
shen Monthly Meeting of Friends. The 
usual committee was appointed to 
make inquiry in respect to the appli- 
cant, who report to the next meeting, 
" that they understand he is at present 
indisposed in body." This was in the 
second month, and it was not till the 
ninth month that he was admitted into 
membership with Friends. On the 
11th of the 10th month, 1763, he ob- 
tained a certificate of removal to Phi- 
ladelphia Monthly Meeting, which he 
did not produce to that meeting, but 
" resided chiefly in Maryland or the 
lower country" till 8th month lOth, 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



513 



1764, when "he had lately embarked 
for London." The Philadelphia certi- 
tificate was at this time returned to 
Goshen Meeting, and another requested 
for him to London by his son William, 
which was prepared by the meeting 
and forwarded accordingly. It is not 
knosvn that he ever returned to this 
country. His wife Sarah was born on 
the 8th of the 2d month, 1697, in Mar- 
pie township, and in membership with 
Friends, which membership she pro- 
bably retained during her life. 

West, Benjamin, the celebrated 
painter was born at Springfield, Chester, 
now Delaware County, on the 28th of 
September, 1738. He was the son of 
John and Sarah West, and the youngest 
of a family of ten children. Many 
details are given by Mr. Gait his biog- 
rapher, of the early performances of 
Benjamin while quite a child, showing 
the early development of his great 
natural genius for painting. Some of 
these are so improbable, and so many 
of the assertions made by that author 
are known to be inaccurate, that neither 
will be repeated here. It is not doubted, 
however that so great a genius as that 
possessed by West was precocious in its 
development. The only early paintings 
of Benjamin West that the author has 
been able to discover, are the likenesses 
of two children now in the possession 
of Mrs. Phebe Worthington of West 
Chester. They were the children of 
John and Elizabeth Morris, the mater- 
nal grand parents of Mrs. Worthing- 
ton. These children were respectively 
named, Jane and Robert Morris, and at 
the time the paintings were executed, 
the girl was five or six, and the boy 
three or four years of age. Mrs. Worth- 
ington, from information received from 
her mother, has no doubt that these 
paintings were made about the year 
1752, or when Benjamin was about 14 
years of age. They exhibit consider- 
able proficiency in the art, and the 
picture of the boy is in a good state of 
preservation. Dr. Jonathan Morris set- 
tled at Newtown Square in 1751, and 
observing the genius of young West, 
became his patron, and purchased 
materials to enable him to exercise the 
art for which nature had so peculiarly 
fitted him. Some of these materials 
were doubtless used in painting the 
likenesses mentioned, though I am in- 

33 



formed by Mrs. Wortington, that the 
father of the children procured the 
canvas on which they were painted. Dr. 
Morris subsequently employed the 
young artist to paint a likeness of him- 
self, which cannot now be found. Dr. 
Morris and Anthony Wayne (after- 
wards General Wayne) were the first 
public patrons of Benjamin West. I 
have it from good authority, that up to a 
recent period a manuscript school-book 
was in existence, in which young West, 
while at school at Newtown Square, 
had made numerous pictures of various 
animals &c., and there is a tradition 
that these were made in the way of 
compensation for assistance given him 
in arithmetic, by another school boy 
named Williamson, the owner of the 
book ; the youthful artist not having 
much taste for figures. 

Of course everything detailed by Mr. 
Gait in respect to the action of the 
Society of Friends on the question of 
permitting young West to cultivate 
the faculties with which nature had 
so liberally endowed him, is perfect 
fiction. The records show no such 
action by the Society, and the fact that 
the artist was not a Friend would ex- 
clude them as such from exercising any 
care over him. Benjamin West's associa- 
tion with Anthony Wayne led him into 
military affairs, and while pursuing 
his studies at Lancaster, he was made 
Captain of a military company. His 
brother Samuel was also a military 
man, and yet no action was had by the 
Society of Friends in respect to either 
of them, though the practice of the 
military art in the eyes of the followers 
of George Fox, was a. much more seri- 
ous offence than that of the fine arts. 

After pursuing his studies for some 
time in Philadelphia and elsewhere, 
Benjamin West in 1759 at the age of 
21 years sailed for Italy, the fountain 
head for the study of his profession, 
and in 1762, he took up his permanent 
residence in London. His subsequent 
career as a painter is well known and 
could not with propriety be noticed in 
this volume. The following interesting 
account of his marriage, extracted from 
a letter written in 1858 by Joseph K. 
Swift M. D. of Easton, Pa., to Horatio 
G. Jones, Esq., Corresponding Secretary 
of the Historical Society of Pennsylva- 
nia, will close our notice of the great 
painter. 










^ 






^ 














^ ^ ^ ^ 



'lift It WW'' 






k 



k 



^ 



514 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES, 



" Miss Elizabeth Shewell became 
acquainted with Benjamin West, aftei'- 
wards the celebrated artist, and they 
fell in love with each other. West at 
that time, although descended from a 
good family, was poor and little known. 
Stephen Shewell wished his sister to 
marry another suitor, which she refused 
to do, in consequence of her attachment 
to West. The brother objected to West 
on account of his poverty and obscurity, 
and he was forbidden to come to the 
house. Miss Shewell, however, con- 
tinued to see him elsewhere, and they 
became engaged to be married. West 
then determined to go to Europe and 
prosecute his studies and profession 
there, and Miss Shewell promised him 
that when he notified her of his ability 
to maintain her and of his wish for her 
to come to him, she would proceed to join 
him in any part of Europe and mai-ry 
him. Her brother was informed of her 
meetings with West, and of the engage- 
ments she had entered into with him ; so 
to prevent any further intercourse be- 
tween them he confined her to her chaiu- 
ber and kept her under lock and key 
until after West's departure for Europe. 
" West pursued his studies and pro- 
fession for some time in various places 
on the Continent, and finally settled at 
London, where he soon met with suflfl- 
cieut patronage tojustif)- him in calling 
on Miss SheAvell to fulfill her promise. 
He then made arrangements for her to 
come to him in the same vessel that 
conveyed his request to her, and also 
that his father should accompany her 
on the voyage. Upon the receipt of 
his message. Miss Shewell prepared for 
her departure, bat her brother was 
apprised of her intention, and again 
confined her to her cliamber. Her en- 
gagement to West was well known in 
Philadelphia, and her brother's tyran- 
nical treatment of her excited great 
indignation against him, and strong- 
sympathy for his sister. In this state 
of things, the late Bishop White, who 
was my guest on his last patriarchal 
visit to Easton, told us that he, (then 
about eighteen years of age,) and Dr. 
Franklin, (about fifty-nine years of 
age,) and Francis Hopkinson, (tweuty- 
niue years of age,) when the vessel was 
ready to sail, procured a rope ladder, 
went to the captain and engaged him to 
set sail as soon as they brought a lady 
on board; took old Mr. West to the 



ship, and went at midnight to Stephen 
Shewell's house, attached the ladder to 
a window in Miss Shewell's chamber, 
and got her safely out and to the vessel, 
which sailed a feAV minutes after she 
entered it. 

'■ I observed to the Bishop that few 
persons who knew him now,- would 
believe that he had once turned knight- 
errant, and liberated an imprisoned 
damsel from confinement. He replied 
that Miss Shewell's case was a hard 
one, and all her friends were indignant 
at the treatment she had received ; that 
he had done right ; and he added, with 
warmth, if it were to do over, he would 
do it again, for it was evident that God 
had intended they should come together, 
and man had no right to keep them 
asunder. 

" Mr. West was in waiting for Miss 
Shewell when she arrived in England^ 
and they were soon married, September 
2d, 1765. Neither of them ever re- 
turned to this country. Stephen Shewell 
never forgave his sister ; and although 
she made many efforts to conciliate 
him, he refused all communication with 
her.'' 

West, William, a son of John and 
Sarah West, and an elder brother of 
the painter, Benjamin, was born in 
Upper Providence township in 1724. 
After receiving a rather better educa- 
tion than was usual at that early period, 
he learned the trade of an oak cooper. 
He was not in membership with Friends 
till 1752, when he was received by 
Goshen Monthly Meeting, and the same 
year removed to Philadelphia, where 
he married, and it is said carried on 
the coopering business many years. 
After the death of his wife he rei-noved 
to Upper Darby, and engaged in the 
farming business. This was about the 
year 1765. The next year he married 
Hannah Shaw, an English lady, then 
residing in Philadelphia, and settled 
permanently on his farm in Upper 
Darby. Here he commenced a system 
of farming that soon brought the ex- 
hausted land that he had purchased, 
into a high state of productiveness. 
By the introduction of red clover, he 
was enabled to increase his stock, 
which during winter he carefully con- 
fined to the barn-yard, which was kept 
well strewed with leaves from the 
woods, and with other vegetable matter. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



515 



The irrigation of his meadow land was 
not neglected, and he was soon en- 
abled to sell hay to his neighboring 
farmers, who had, at first, spoken 
lightly of " the town man's farming." 
His land was naturally of a good 
quality, and the kind treatment it had 
received, brought in an abundance of 
green grass. His plan of farming was 
now changed, and with plowing very 
little, an extensive system of top dress- 
ing was introduced by means of com- 
post. He used lime, but to what ex- 
tent is not known. He was, however, 
among the first to introduce gypsum, 
and was one of it warmest defenders 
as a manure. His farm was thus 
brought into the best possible condi- 
tion for grazing, and that was his prin- 
cipal business during the remainder of 
his life. In the improvement of our 
lands, William West was doubtless the 
pioneer, and in his day he had no com- 
petitor. It is impossible to say how 
much the vastly increased productive- 
ness of our county is owing to the ex- 
ample set by him. Though so suc- 
cessful in agriculture, his whole time 
was not devoted to his farm. He was 
frequently employed in public business 
in the County, and served five years as 
its representative in the Legislature. 
He died on the 6th of December, I808, 
aged eighty-four years. 

Wood, William, migrated from the 
town and county of Nottingham, Eng- 
land, and with his wife and family 
settled in or near the town of Darby in 
1683. He was a member of the Society 
of Friends, and being a man of ability 
and education, he was chosen a mem- 
ber of the Provincial Council in less 
than a year after his arrival. But his 
services in that body were cut short 
by his death, which occurred before 
the close of the year 1685. It is be- 
lieved that Joseph Wood was his son 
and heir, and that John, who inter- 
married with Mary Bartram, was a 
younger son. Joseph removed to New 
Castle. 

Woodward, Richard, with his wife 
Jane, was an early settler in Middle- 
town, but the precise time of his immi- 
gration is not known. They were 
Quakers, and so far as has come to the 
knowledge of the writer, their children 
were Richard, Edward and William. 



Richard, Jr., intermarried with Esther 
Davis, of Concord, and subsequently 
with Mary Britain, a daughter of Bar- 
tholomew Coppock, and Edward with 
Abigail, daughter of John and Jane 
Edge. Richard the elder died in 1*706, 
aged seventy years. 

WOODMANSON, WiLLIAM, (or Wood- 

mancy, as his name is sometimes 
spelled,) with his wife Esther, came to 
the settlements on the Delaware, in the 
ship Kent, from London, with the West 
Jersey Commissioners, sent out to pur- 
chase land from the natives, in the 
year 1677. Before the close of that 
year, his name appears in the records 
of Upland Court as a resident and tax- 
able of Upland district. He made his 
settlement on the west side of Chester 
Creek, above the present manufactur- 
ing village of Upland, and called it 
Harold. He was a vigilant member of 
the Society of Friends ; and as early as 
the nth of 7th mo 1682, the Chester 
Monthly Meeting decided to hold the 
" middle meeting" at his house at Harold. 
This meeting continued to be held 
there for some time. William Wood- 
manson was one of Governor Mark- 
ham's Council before the arrival of Wil- 
liam Penn and was a juror at the first 
court held under Penn's government. 
He removed from Chester to Phila- 
delphia, where his wife died, and he 
married a second wife, named Dorothy, 
but it is not known that he left any 
family. In England, William Wood- 
manson resided in Bedfordshire, and 
there suffered imprisonment for refus- 
ing to take the oath of allegiance, &c. 
His wife Dorothy died in 1702, and he 
in 1706. 

W^ORKELL, or WORRALL, RiCHARD, 

emigrated from Oare. Berkshire, Eng- 
land, in 1682, and arrived at Philadel- 
phia a short time before the Proprietary. 
He served as a juror in the last Court 
held for Upland County, but it does 
not appear that he settled within the 
bounds of Delaware County. He was 
a Friend, and had suffered some perse- 
cution on account of his religion as 
early as 1670. 

WoRRALL, John, was a Friend, and 
came from the same place as the next 
above. They both presented their cer- 
tificates at the same time, and to the 



516 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



same meeting in Philadelphia, and were 
doubtless relatives. John removed to 
Chester, or the neighborhood of that 
place, where in the early part of 1684 
he was married to Frances, the widow 
of Thomas Taylor, after which he set- 
tled in Middletown. In 1695 he was 
a resident of Edgmont, where he con- 
tinued to reside till the time of his de- 
cease, in 1742, when he had attained 
the age of eighty-four years. His wife 
Frances died in 1712, and in 1714 he 
married Sarah, the daughter of Thomas 
Goodwin, of Kdgmont. It is not known 
that John Worrall had any child by 
his first wife except a son named John, 
who died yoving. By his second wife 
he had seven children viz., Elizabeth, 
Mary, John, Peter, Sarah, Thomas and 
Mary. 

It is supposed that the name Worrall 
or Worrell was originally Warel, and 
that those bearing it are descended 
from a Sir Hubert de Warel, who lost 
three sons at the battle of Hastings, 
the town at which William the Con- 
queror first landed. 

Worrell, John, with his wife Mary, 
and family, settled very early in Marple 
township. It has been supposed that 
he was a son of Richard Worrell, who 
settled in Philadelphia, but this is un- 
certain. His wife was a sister of Harry 
Lewis, of Radnor. He died in 1716, 
leaving six children, viz., John, Peter, 
Joshua, Henry, Mary and Hannah. His 
widow married John Bromfield, of 
Whiteland. 

Worrell, Thomas, a practitioner of 
medicine, of considerable reputation 
about the commencement of the present 
century, was born in Upper Providence 
township, in the year 1732. He was 
the son of Dr. John Worrell, who 
also practiced in this County, and who 
accompanied the first Dr. Bernhard 
Van Leer to Europe, for the purpose of 
improvement in the study of medicine, 
and was graduated in the same Institu- 
tion. The elder Dr. Worrell died young, 
having, as was believed, greatly im- 
paired his health by experimenting 
personally on the medical properties 
^of native plants, in which he appears 
to have had great confidence, in com- 
mon, it was said, with Dr. Van Leer. 

The younger Dr. Worrell married 
Lydia Vernon, of Lower Providence, 



aunt of Major Frederick Vernon, and 
Captain Job Vernon, of the Revo- 
lutionary army, and sister of Gideon 
Vernon, who took part with the British 
and fled to the Provinces. Though 
considerably engaged in practice, and 
having an excellent local reputation, he 
was but partially devoted to medicine, 
and seems to have preferred farming as 
a business. He was also very skilful 
in making and repairing the finer and 
more complicated descriptions of ma- 
chinery, especially clocks. He had the 
reputation of heing greatly skilled in 
the use of native herbs, and was popu- 
larly supposed to have obtained im- 
portant secrets in that respect from the 
Indians, which was the case, also to 
some extent with his father, and with 
the two Drs. Van Leer. 

Dr. Thomas Worrell died in 1818, at 
an advanced age. He was a faithful 
and consistent member of the Society 
of Friends. His last descendants in this 
County are the family of his grandson, 
Mr. Thomas Cassin, who died in 1859. 
Other descendants are settled near 
Zanesville, Ohio. 

WoRRiLow, Thomas, was settled in 
Edgmont as early as 1690, and pos- 
sibly earlier. He called his place 
Brooznoll, which was probably the 
name of the place in England from 
which he emigrated. He was in mem- 
bership with Friends. The time of his 
death is not exactly known. His widow 
died at Philadelphia in 1710. 

WoRRiLow, John, a son of the above- 
named Thomas, was settled in the 
County as early as 1687. In 1690 he 
was married to Ann, the daughter of 
George Maris, of Springfield. As a 
member of the Society of Friends, he 
was more active than his father. His 
place of residence was Edgmont. 

Worth, Thomas, was from Oxton, in 
the County of Nottingham, England. 
He settled in Darby town immediately 
upon his arrival in 1682, and subse- 
quently higher up in the township. 
He was a, consistent and exemplary 
member of the Society of Friends ; and 
having acquired a better education than 
was usual in that day, his services were 
constantly in demand in the perform- 
ance of such duties as required an ex- 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



517 



pert tvnd ready penman. He was mar- 
ried in 1685 to Issabell Dauinson 
[Davidson],- who emigrated from the 
County of Darby, and probably came 
in the same ship with her husband, 
bringing with her a certificate of good 
character, which was fully sustained in 
after life. She died, in 1709, at the age 
of fifty-four years. Thomas lived till 
1*731. In 1697 he represented Chester 
County ia the Provincial Assembly. 
The descendants of this couple are nu- 
merous and respectable; those bearing 
the name being mostly settled in Ches- 
ter County, where he had purchased a 
large tract of land. He was one of the 
original purchasers of land in England. 
His son Thomas removed to Bradford, 
1739. 

Wright, John, was born in Lanca- 
shire, England, about the year 1667, of 
pious parents, who were among the ear- 
liest to embrace the doctrines of George 
Fox. He was educated for the medical 
profession, but declined the practice of 
it, and entered into trade, which he 
pursued in his native country till the 
year 1713, when, with his wife Pru- 
dence and four children, he migrated 
to Philadelphia, but before the close 
of 1714 removed to Chester. His cer- 
tificate was from the Monthly Meeting 
of Hartshaw, Lancashire, and testifies 
as well to the excellency of his charac- 
ter as to his services in the ministry. 
The people of Chester County we'-e not 
slow to discover the merits of this new 
comer among them. He was appointed 
a justice of their Court, and also chosen 
a member of the Provincial Council. 
About the year 1726 he removed to the 
banks of the Susquehanna, at that time 
almost a perfect wilderness. When 
Lancaster County was organized in 
1729, he was the presiding justice of 
the first Court, and continued to hold 
that office till 1741. About this time, 
among the arbitrary measures adopted 
by Governor Thomas, was the enlist- 
ment of servants into the military ser- 
vice. Against this the honest Quaker 
spoke so freely as to induce his Excel- 
lency to determine upon his removal 
from office. Wright, learning the in- 
tention of the Governor, in his charge 
to the Grand Jury, took occasion to 
discuss the principles of government. 
This document, remarkable for its 
ability, closes in these words : 



" And now to conclude, I take my 
leave in the words of a judge of Israel: 
'Here I am, witness against me; whom 
have I defrauded ; whom have I op- 
pressed ; or of whose hands have I re- 
ceived any bribe to blind my eyes 
therewith ? and I will restore it.' " He 
died in 1751, aged eighty-four years, 
highly esteemed as a member of the 
community and as a preacher in the 
Society of Friends. 

Yarnall, Peter, was the son of 
Mordecai Yarnall, a worthy Quaker 
preacher of Philadelphia. After re- 
ceiving a moderately good school edu- 
cation, he was placed out to learn a 
trade; but, differing with his master, 
at the age of eighteen years, he left 
him, and enlisted in the military ser- 
vice, from which, after some trouble, 
his friends obtained his release. After 
arriving at age, he commenced the 
study of medicine; but upon the revolt 
of the American Colonies in 1776, he 
entered the American service, acting 
'generally as Surgeon's mate in various 
divisions of the army and in several 
hospitals. Towards the close of 1718 
his health failed to such a degree that 
he was dismissed from the service at 
his own request. He again resumed 
the study of medicine ; and in February, 
1779, the College of Medicine of Phila- 
delphia conferred on him the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine. He immedi- 
ately resumed his connection with the 
military service, and sailed as Surgeon's 
mate on board of the privateer ship De- 
laware. He returned in the following 
June, and attended strictly to the prac- 
tice of the Pennsylvania Hospital. A 
change now came over his religious 
feelings, he again united himself with 
the Quakers, and in 1730 appeared in 
the ministry. About this time he re- 
moved to Concord township, and esta- 
blished himself in the practice of medi- 
cine. In 1782 he married Hannah, the 
daughter of Benjamin Sharpless, of 
Middletown. He continued to reside 
in Concord till 1791, when he removed 
to Horsham, Montgomery County,where 
his wife died in 1795. In 1797 he mar- 
ried Hannah Thornton, of Byberry, but 
died in 1798, aged forty-five years. 
Peter Yarnall was a man of ability, 
was skilful as a physician, and became 
eminent as a minister of the gospel 
among Friends. 



518 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Yarnall, Philip. The name of 
Philip Yarnall, a native of England, oc- 
curs as a member of Darby Monthly 
Meeting of Friends as early as 1684. 
While he remained nnmarried, he pro- 
bably resided with his brother Francis, 
on rented land, in Springfield town- 
ship. In 1694, he married Dorothy 
Baker, a daughter of Joseph Baker, of 
Edgmont, when, it is supposed, he went 
to Edgmont, to reside on land he pur- 
chased soon after his arrival here. His 
children were, John, Philip, Job, Sarah, 
Benjamin, Thomas, Nathan, Samuel, 
Rebecca and Mary. He died in 1734, 
and his wife in 1 743. 

Yarnall, Francis, probably immi- 
grated with his brother Philip in 1684, 
and at first settled in Springfield town- 
ship on rented land. He was for a 
time a member of Darby Monthly 
Meeting of Friends, but subsequently 
belonged to that of Chester. In 1686 
he married Hannah Baker, a daughter 
as is believed of Joseph Baker, of Edg- 
mont. In 1708 he resided in Chester 
borough. He was a man of consider- 
able influence in the community, and 
i^in 1711 represented Chester County in 
the Provincial Assembly. His children 
were, Sarah, John, Peter, Moses, Fran- 
cis, Joseph, Amos and Mordecai. 

Yearsly, John, with his wife, son 
John and four daughters, migrated from 

Middlewith, County of , England, 

in 1700, and settled in Thornbury 
township. His son John intermarried 
with Sarah Conway, and his daughter 
Elizabeth with Moses Key, who ap- 
pears to have immigrated with the fa- 
mily. They were all in membership 
with Friends. John died in 1708. 



Yeates, Jasper, came from York- 
shire, England, and settled within the 
limits of Delaware State. He married 
Catharine, daughter of James Sande- 
landes, and afterwards resided for a 
long time in Chester, and while re- 
siding there sometimes represented 
New Castle County in the Assembly. 
After the separation of the lower coun- 
ties, he was a representative and 
speaker of their Assembly ; was a jus- 
tice of the Provincial Court in 1709-1 0, 
and at the time of his death, which 
happened about the year 1720, he was 
a member of Council. Though brought 
up to the law, he appeared fond of 
speculation and traffic. He was resid- 
ing in Chester 1 697, when he purchased 
the mills and property at the mouth 
of Naaman's Creek, and about that 
time purchased lands in Chester, built 
extensive granaries on the creek, and 
established a large bakery. He was 
not, however, fortunate in his specula- 
tions. He was the grandfather of Jus- 
tice Yeates of the Supreme Court of 
Pennsylvania. 

Yzzard Michael, was a taxable in 
the district of Upland as early as 1677, 
and served the office of under sheriff' 
for Upland County for some time pre- 
vious to 1679, as successor to Jurian 
Hartsvelder, when he resided in Up- 
land. His residence subsequently was 
on the west side of Chester creek, in 
the upper part of Chester township. 
He served as a juror at the first court 
under Penn's government. He was a 
carpenter by trade, and removed to 
Philadelphia prior to 1686. It is not 
known that he was a Quaker. 



AP PENDIX. 



NOTE A.— Page 36. 

DONATION TO GOV. JOHN PRINTZ OF TENEKO OR NEW GOTTEN- 
BURG IN NEW SWEDEN, AS A PERPETUAL INHERITANCE FOR 
HIM AND HIS LAWFUL HEIRS. 

" Stockholm, Nov. 6. 1643. 
" We Christina &c. Make linown that as grace and particular favor, on account 
of the long and excellent services, which the Lieutenant Colonel and Governor 
of New Sweden our very dear and beloved John Printz has rendered to us and 
to the Crown of Sweden and also on account of those which he is daily render- 
ing to us in the government of the country, and which he is engaged to render 
to us as long as he shall live ; we have given and granted, and by virtue of this 
letter patent, do give and grant to him the said John Printz and his lawful heirs, 
the place called Teneko or New Gottenburg, in New Sweden, to enjoy it, him 
and his lawful heirs, as a perpetual possession. In regard to which accordingly 
let them regulate themselves, who owe to us submission and obedience, and 
whose desire and duty requires them to fulfil our will, especially those who may 
in future, be appointed to replace him in said situation not giving to the said 
John Printz or to his lawful heirs any obstacle or prejudice in any manner, 
whether now or hereafter. In faith of which &c. Day and year above 

" Peter Brake Gcstavcs Horn 

A. Oxenstierna Charles Fleming 

G. Oxenstierna" 

I NOTE B.— Page 59. 

DONATION TO CAPTAIN JOHN AMUNDSON BESH, OF A TRACT OF 
LAND IN NEW SWEDEN. 

"Stockholm, August 20th, 1653. 
" We Christina &c., make known that by grace and favor, and in consideration 
of the zeal and fidelity with which we have been served, ourselves and the crown 
of Sweden, by our very faithful subject, the brave and courageous Capt. John 
Amundson Besh, and further the crown of Sweden, with similar zeal and fidelity 
so long as he shall live and his strength permit him ; we accord and grant, and 
by these letters patent, have accorded and granted, to himself, his wife, and to 
hi's heirs and their heirs, a tract of land situated in New Sweden extending to 
Upland Kyll, together with all the dependencies and commodities thereto apper- 
taining, whether upon the land or upon the water of whatever name ; without 
excepting what has always belonged thereto, which ought to belong by right or 
laws or legal decision ; to keep and possess the same forever as his own invio- 
lable property. According to which, let all whom it may concern, regulate 
themselves ; ofi'ering the said Besh, his wife and heirs neither obstacle or preju- 
dice of any kind whatever, now or hereafter, — in faith of which &c. &c. Given 
as above 

" Christina 

«N. TUNGEL." 



520 APPENDIX. — NOTE C. 

NOTE C— Pages 116, 117, 178. 
Secretary of State's office, Albany, Abstract of Patents vol. ii. p. 54, June 18th, 1668. 

To Israel Helme, Hendrick Jacobson, Ole Kock & Jan Minsterman, to con- 
firm to them " a portion of land on West, side of Delaware River within the mill 
Kill upon the Hook commonly called Calcoone Hook, reaching from the said mill 
Kill to that which is called by the Indians Mokornippates, including all the 
lands between the said two Kills, as al§o the valley or meadow ground there- 
unto belonging, containing by estimation as it lies along the river [creek] side 
about an English mile, and there being also in the said Mill Kill, a certain little 
Island, near unto and over against the said land known by the name of ' hay 
Island,' as the said land was granted, Aug. 4* 1663 to Ericke Nichels, Moorty 
Poulson, Andries Johnson & Henry Jacobson — the three former of whom after- 
wards parted with their rights thereto." 

Same Book, p. 57, August 4th, 1668. 

To Jurian Kene, to confirm to him three lots of land in his, possession, " lying 
in Upland on the West side of Delaware river, bounded on the West by Upland 
Kill or creek & on the East with the ministers laud on the north with Villus 
Lacies & on the South with Hans Jurieansen — as also a.piece of land formerly 
called Smiths Point, lying on the North side of Upland, which in the whole 
amounts to about acres of ground, together with a piece of meadow, 

which runs from the Smith's point, South East to the river, being bounded on 
the North East with Israel Helmes & on the South West side with Villus lattie." 
[The blank is in the record.] 

Same Book and page. August 6th, 1668. 

To James Sandilands, to confirm to him, "two lots of land in Upland at 
Delaware, upon the North side of the creek or Kill next and adjoining to Israel 
Helmes & Jost Danielsens land & bounded with Villus Latie, containing in 
breadth six and thirty yards, as laid out by the officers at Delaware." 

Same Book and page, April 8th, 1669. 

To Rev. Laurenty Caroly, minister to the Swedes, a piece of land at Delaware 
held by him and '' lying on the North East side of Upland Kill beginning from 
the river side along by the Kill in breadth to the lot of Jan Daniells about 27 
Rod, in length along the River side to a small Kill called Prissers Kill, about 
three hundred Rod, being about equal breadth behind and before & amounting 
in all to about two or three & thirty acres or about 16 luorgen, more or less." 
[The dimensions will make more than fifty acres.] 

Same Book, p. 61. October 1st, 1669. Also, York Book, in the records at Dover, 

p. 192. 

To Andrew Carr, & Margaret his wife, formerly the wife of Joost De la Grange, 
deceased, to confirm to them " a certain Island in Delaware river called by the 
name of Matiniconck, containing by estimation three hundred acres more or 
less, the said Island lying about 6 Dutch miles up the river from the town of 
Newcastle, bounded on the Northwest with the Mill Kill, on the South by the river 
k on the North East or North & by East with Bow kill." — [Mrs. Papegoya re- 
gained possession of Tinicum against this title, but it was subsequently sustained 
in a suit brought after the establishment of Penn's government.] 

Recorder's Office, Dover, Del., "Fork Book." "Day of 167 '' 

"Edmund Andros, Esq., &c , Whereas there is a certaine tract of land called 
Marreties Hooke, lying and being on the West side of Delaware River, the which 
by virtue of a Warrant, hath been layd out for Charles Jansen, Olle Rawson, OUe 



APPENDIX. — NOTE C. 521 

Nielson, Hans Hopman, John Hendrickson and Hans OUeson the said land being 
bounded as foUoweth (vizt) beginning at a small point of highland within the 
mouth of Naamans Creeke and from thence running North and by "West one 
hundred and twenty-three perches, bounded with the Creeke to a corner marked 
white oak by the Creeke side at the mouth of a small branch, and from thence 
East and by North (bounded with the s-i branch and with a line of marked trees, 
from the head of the branch to a corner markt Spanish oak, standing by a small 
run) three hundred and eight perches, from thence North North East (along the 
run) thirty two perches to a coi'ner marked white oak standing at the side of Mari- 
ties Creeke at the lower side of the mouth of the s<i run, and from thence down the 
several courses of the Creeke to the maine River side & from thence down along the 
river side to the place of beginning at the mouth of Naamans Creeke containing 
and layd out for one thousand acres of land as by return of the survey under the 
Surveyor, doth and may appear. Now know ye &c." Quit-rent 10 bushels — . 
[The date is left blank inthe patent, but the survey, which is recorded at Har- 
risburg in an old book of surveys, page 18, is dated the 2'7th of July, 1675. It 
is mentioned in the survey that the land " was formerly granted unto the said 
persons in the time of the Dutch Government."] 

Secretary of State's Office, Albany. Abstract of Patents, vol. ii. p. 63. October 

1st, 1669, 

To Peter Cock " to confirm to him a certain Island in the Delaware River now 
in his occupation lying in a kill which runs into the Scholekill and by tides into 
the main river containing by estimation twenty-five Morgen or. fifty acres of im- 
provable land besides broken land, which said broken land is bounded by the 
main river on the East and by South by the Scholekill on the north and by East 
and by Andries Rown's [Boon's] kill on the West * * as formerly granted by 
Governor Stuyvesant to the said Peter Cock * *." [This is now known as Pro- 
vince Island. ] 

Same Book, p. 64. June 13th, 1670. 

To James Sandilands, a grant to him " of a lot of land at Delaware * * * 
lying in Upland, bounded on the South West by the kill, on the Northeast by 
the land of Niels Lawson, on the East by Jurian Keen's land and North and by 
West by the lands of Niels Matson, containing by estimation five acres of ground — 
as also another piece of land bounded by the kill as above, North & West by the 
land of Jurian Keene and on the South East ^y the land of Lawrence Lock." 

Same Book, p. 65. June 13th, 1670. 

To Neals Matson, a grant of " a piece of land in the Delaware bounded on the 
South East with the river called Delaware River and on the North-east with the 
creek * * called Crum kill or creek, on the South West with Claus Andries land 
and runing into the woods directly North West containing by estimation one 
hundred acres or fifty morgen." 

From an old Book of Surveys, Surveyor OeneraVs Office, Harrisburg, p. 16. 

"Surveyed: the 30* day of July 1675. John Johnston, James Justason & 
Peter Hendrickson : Five hundred and fifty Acres of land, situate on the West- 
ward side of Delaware River : adjoining to the said River side betwen two creeks, 
the one called Marrityes Creek, dividing this from y^ land of Marityes Hook and 
the other called Harwicks Creek, which at the mouth thereof divideth this from 
the land called Lemokey, vizt. Beginning at Marityes Creek at the southermost 
corner of John Johnson's Cow house, by the side of the path which goeth 
through y« swamp to ye lowermost landing of the s'^ Creek, and from thence 
Running by the swamp or Creeple which lieth along by the River side N. E by 
N. forty two perches, North Easterly 69 degrees North 13 perches, Northeasterly 
79 Degrees (over a swamp) twenty two Perches, N. E. by E 20 perches, N. E. 
66 Degrees, 90 perches; N E. (over a swamp) 16 perches, E. N. E 46 perches, 



522 APPENDIX. — NOTE C. 

East 35 perches, E. N. E. 60 perches, to Harwicks Creek, then N. 20 perches, 
and N. W. by N. 52 perches up to the s^ creek ; and from the Creek N. W. by a 
line of marked trees 25 perches to a corner marked Black oak standing nigh 
unto ye head of a small swamp and from the s^ oak running W. S. W. by a line 
of marked trees 240 per. to a corner marked Maple standing in a branch of 
Marityes Creek and from thence along ye s'^ branch South Easterly 6 degrees 50 
perches to the creek and finally down the several courses of the s'^ Creek to the 
main River side, Conteyneing the said quantity of land, besides the swamp and 
sunken ground thereto adjoining. 300 A. part thereof being formerly granted 
unto the 8*^ John Johnson, James Justason & John Hendricksen, each 100 A. by 
three patents (But not one concurring with the situation of the place) all bear- 
ing date the 10"^ day of April, 16T3 (since which time Peter Hendrickson is in- 
vested in the right of the said John Hendrickson) and two hundred and fifty 
acres, the other part thereof being new land." 

Same Book, p. 32. 

" Laid out for John Cornells and Marton Marteson, [Morton Mortonson,] one 
piece or parcel of land whereon they now dwell situate lying and being on y<^ 
west side of Delaware River and on a Creek which cometh out of the said River 
commonly known and called Amsland or Mill kill, beginning at a small stony 
Run which divides this land from Henrick Johnson's and Bartoll Escoll's [land]. 
Running into the woods, N. W. and by W. 320 p. to corner marked Black oak 
standing by a Creek Mockoronipatte, then along the several courses of the creek 
to the mouth thereof 320 p. then along the Mill creek to the first place of begin- 
ning 300 p. laid out for '728 acres more or less. 

" Per Ed. Cantwell." 

Same Book, p. 31. 

"October, 1675. 

" Laid out for Henrick Johnson and Bartoll Esskells, two pieces or parcels of 
land situated lying and being on the west side of Delaware on a Creek running 
out of the said river commonly known and called Amsland or Mill creek ; the one 
piece of land beginning at a corner of a fench which bounds and parts Henrich 
Thaden's land from this land, running N. W. and by W. into the woods 320 p. 
to a corner marked white oak, then N. E. and by E. 131 J p. to a corner marked 
Black oak, then S. S. E. 320 p. to a small stony run which parts John Cornelius 
and Marton Marteson [Morton Mortonson] then S. W. and by W. to first place of 
beginning 130J perches." 

" The other piece or parcel of land, lying and being on the South side of Henrick 
Thaden's land, beginning at a corner marked Spanish oak by a run called Stony 
run — then running into the woods 320 perches to a corner marked Black oak, 
dividing it from Thaden's land, then S. W. and by W. 300 perches to the Crooked 
called Crum kille — then along the Crum kill the several courses of the crooked 
kill and swamp to a small Slasse coming out of Crum kill 500 perches, then N. E. 
and by E. to the first place of beginning 136 J p. whole piece or parcel of land 
being laid out for 154 A. more or less. 

"Per Ed. Cantwell." 

Same Book. p. 19. 
"Surveyed the lO^i^of September 1675 for Henrick Coleman and Peter Putcon, 100 
A. of land situate on the Westward side of Delaware River and on the N. W. side 
of a Creek called Mill Creek over against Karraconk Hook, being bounded as fol- 
loweth, vizt. beginning at a corner marked White oak standing nigh unto the creek 
side, being a bounded tree betwixt this land and the land of Calcoon Hook, and 
from thence running N. N. W. by a line of marked trees dividing this from the 
said Calcoon Hook land 290 perches to a corner marked red oak and from y' oak, 
E. N. E. by a line of marked trees 128 perches to a corner marked Black oak 
standing on the side of a hill by a branch of the said Creek, called Mohorkoo- 
tink, and from thence down ye said branch and creek to the first mentioned 
corner oak." 



APPENDIX. — NOTE C. 523 

Same Book, p. 32. 

"September 2, 1675. 

"Laid out for Henrick Thadens, one piece or parcel of land situate lying and 
being on the West side of Delaware River & in a Creek commonly called Ams- 
land or Mill creek, it being the land whereon be dwelleth, and between two 
pieces of land belonging to Henrick Johnson and Bartoll EsscoUs, beginning at a 
corner of a Fench which divides this land from the land of Amsland, running 
into the woods North W. and by W. 320 perches to a corner marked white 
oak, then S. W. and by W. 140 p. to a Black oak, then S. E. and by E. 320 p. 
to a Spanish oak standing by the mouth of a Run called Stony run, then N. E. 
& by E. 140 p. to the place of beginning. Laid out for 280 Acres more or less." 

Same Book, p. 20. 

" Surveyed the 20th day of September 1675 for Captain Hans Monson the 
tract of land where he now dwells, Oronomink, situate on the westward side 
of the Delaware River and on the west side of the Schuylekill, Being bounded as 
followeth (vizt.) Beginning at a corner marked white oak standing at y'= side of 
ye s* Kill above y« mouth of a creek called the great Queen fall ; and from the s"* 
oak running N. W. by a line of marked trees 173 perches to a corner marked 
white oak standing at the side of a small branch of the s"! creek ; and from that 
oak west by a line of marked trees 222 perches to a corner marked white oak 
standing at the head of a branch of Karraconks Mill creek which branch is by 
the Indians called Amisseecanminks and from ye said oak running down along 
ye s"! branch and maine run to another corner marked black oak standing at ye 
south side of the s<J run or Creek ye distance south westerly 4 degrees by aline of 
marked trees no perches to a corner marked Black oak standing by a small 
swamp and from thence E. S. E. by a line of Marked trees 346 perches to a 
corner marked white oak standing on a small point nigh unto ye head of Ink- 
horn's creek and from thence along Inkhorn's creek to ye Schuylekill and from 
ye mouth of Inkhorn's creek along by ye side of the Schuylekill to ye first men- 
tioned corner oak. Couteyning Eleven hundred acres of land — which was for- 
merly granted unto the said Capt" Monson for 100 A. more or less, by patent 
bearing date ye 10* day of March," [year blank.] 

[It was on this land the Upland Court directed a mill to be built. It embraces 
Maylandville, Gray's Ferry, &c.] 

Surveyor-General's Office, Patent Book A. 1, p. 329. 

Patent from Rich"! Nichols, "Principal Commissioner from his Magt'es^ in 
New England * * * Governor-General under his Royall highness James 
Duke of York and Albany and all his territories in America and Commander-in- 
Chief of all the forces employed by his ma'ies to Reduce the Dutch Nation and all 
their usurped lands and Plantations under his Mat'es obedience," for the " piece 
of land commonly called or known by the name of Passayunk, situated lieing 
and being at Delaware by the side of the Schuylkill containing by estimacon one 
thousand acres be it more or less. Bounded on the South by the main river, on 
the west with the Sculkil on the North with the plantacon belonging to Peter 
Rambo and upon the East by a parcel of land called Mobbeer Land, do give and 
grant unto Robert Ashman, John Ashman, Thomas Jacob, Dunkin Williams, 
fifrancis Walker, Thomas Hewelin, ffrederick Anderson, Joshua Jacob, and Thomas 
Jacob, their heirs and assigns." (Quit-rent was fixed at 10 bushell of wheat 
every year.) 

" Given under my hand and seal at ffort James in New York on the Island of 
Manhattans the flflrst day of January in the nineteenth year of his Maj*ies Reign 
Annoq 3 Dini 1667. 

"Richard Nicolls." 

" Memorandum before the signing and sealing of this patent, it is resolved 
that the ffrst planters viz M"^ Robert Ashman and his then Associates shall have 



524 APPENDIX. — NOTE D. 

and enjoy a larger proportion of allotment than others according to their stock 
and ability to improve the said land, and in case the above mentioned parties 
cannot agree in the division of such lands, Capt. John Carre, Ensign Edmund 
Withins and Mr. William Tom shall put a period to any questions hereafter by 
causing the lotts to be laid out and Registered, what every mans proportion 
amounts unto. 

" Richard NicoLLS. 
" Registered by order of the Govern'' 
the day and year above written." 

Secretary of Staters Office, Albany, Book, " Delaware lands," p. 15. 

" Surveyed the 27* of August 1675 for M'' Laurentius Carolis 350 acres of 
land, South West side of Delaware being land where ollie Stille hath formerly 
dwelt, bounded as followeth, viz. Begins at a corner marked poplar standing 
nigh unto the old landing on Olie Stille's creek & from the said poplar running 
along by the swamp side w*'' length along by the river N. E. 62° 144 p. N. E. 18 
p., N. by E. 16 p. and N. E. by E. 62°, 98 p. to a corner marked maple standing 
by the swamp side and dividing this from the lands of Niels Matson and from 
tiie s'i Maple N. W. by a line of marked trees dividing this from the land of y** s<^ 
Niels 338 p. to a corner mk'i red oak standing on the ridge between the aforesaid 
creek & a creek called Crum Kill & from y'^ s'^ oak S. W. 46 p. by a line of Mk'^ 
trees to a corner mk'^ Red oak standing by a small piece of Marsh at the side ofOUe 
Stille's creeke and from thence down the several courses of s"! creek to the first 
mentioned poplar containing the said Quantity 

" Walt= Wharton 

Surveyor Gen." 
" by order and appointment oi Edmund Canticell," 

"day of A. D. 1676 Confirmed by E Andros 

and quit Rent fixed at 3i bushells." 



NOTE D —Pages 142, 143. 

LIST OF MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY FROM CHESTER COUNTY DOWN TO 
THE DIVISION OP THE COUNTY, AND FROM THAT PERIOD, 
THOSE WHO REPRESENTED DELAWARE COUNTY. 

1682. So far as is known, John Simcock, Thomas Brasey, Ralph Withers, 

Thomas Usher. 

1683. John Hoskins, Robert Wade, George Wood, John Blunston, Dennis Roch- 

ford, Thomas Bracey, John Bezar, John Harding, Joseph Phipps. 

1684. Joshua Hastings, Robert Wade, John Blunston, George Mai'is, Thomas 

Usher, Henry iVIaddock. 

1685. John Blunston, George Maris, John Harding, Thomas Usher, Francis 

Stanfield, Joshua Fearne. 

1686. Robert Wade, John Blunston, George Maris, Bartholomew Coppock, 

Samuel Levis, Caleb Pusey. 

1687. John Blunston, George Maris, Bartholomew Coppock, Caleb Pusey, 

Edward Bezar, Randal A''ernon. 

1688. John Blunston, James Sandeland, George Maris, Robert Pile, Edward 

Carter, Thomas Cobourn. 
16'89. James Sandeland, Samuel Levis, John Bartram, Robert Pile, Jonathan 
Hayes. 

1690. John Bristow, William Jenkin, Robert Pile, Joshua Fearne, George Maris, 

Caleb Pusey. 

1691. (Record wanting.) 

1692. Philip Roman, George Maris, Bartholomew Coppock, Robert Pile, Caleb 

Pusey, Thomas Withers. 

1693. John Simcock, George Maris, David Lloyd. 



APPENDIX. — NOTE D. 525 

1694. David Lloyd (speaker,) Caleb Pusey, Samuel Levis. 

1695. John Blunston, Bartholomew Coppock, William Jenkins, Robert Pile, 

Walter Faucet, Philip Roman. 

1696. John Simcock, (speaker,) John Blunston, Caleb Pusey. 

169T. John Blunston, (speaker,) Bartholomew Coppock, Thomas Worth, Jona- 
than Hayes. 

1698. Caleb Pusey, Samuel Levis, Nathaniel Newlin, Robert Carter. 

1699. John Blunston, (speaker,) Robert Pile, John Worrilow, Robert Carter. 

1700. John Blunston, (speaker,) Robert Pile, Richard Ormes, John Hood, Sam- 

uel Levis, Henry Lewis. 
IVOI. Joseph Baker, Samuel Levis, Nathaniel Newlin, Nicholas Pile. 

1702. John Blunston, Robert Pile, Nathaniel Newlin, Andrew Job. 

1703. Nicholas Pile, John Bennet, Andrew Job, David Lewis, Nathaniel Newlin, 

Joseph Baker, Robert Carter, Joseph Wood. 

1704. Nicholas Pile, John Bennet, Nicholas Fairlamb, Joseph Cobourn, John 

Hood, Richard Hayes, Joseph Wood, Isaac Taylor. 

1705. Nicholas Pile, John Bennet, John Hood, Joseph Wood, Isaac Taylor. 

1706. Samuel Levis, Richard Hayes, Francis Chadds, Joseph Baker, Evan Lewis, 

John Hood, George Pearce, William Garrett. 

1707. Francis Chadds, William Smith, Samuel Levis, Richard Hayes, John 

Hood, William Garrett, John Bethel. 

1708. Daniel Williamson, Samuel Levis, Richard Hayes, John Hood, Thomas 

Pearson, William Bartram, Daniel Hoops. 

1709. Samuel Levis, John Maris, John Hood, Henry Lewis, Daniel Williamson, 

Daniel Hoops, Richard Hayes, William Smith. 

1710. Nicholas Pile, Joseph Baker, William Lewis, John Wood, Nathaniel 

Newlin, Ephraim Jackson, Caleb Pusey, Isaac Taylor. 

1711. Francis Yarnall, John Bezer, Caleb Pusey, Nicholas Pile, Nathaniel New- 

lin, Joseph Baker, Nicholas Fairlamb, David Lllewellyn. 

1712. Caleb Pusey, David Lloyd, William Davis,' Nicholas Fairlamb, Joseph 

Wood, George Harlan, Isaac Taylor, John Maris. 

1713. David Lloyd, William Davis, Joseph Baker, Nathaniel Newlin, Nicholas 

Fairlamb, Richard Hayes, William Brinton, John Blunston. 
•1714. David Lloyd, Nathaniel Newlin, Nicholas Pile, Evan Lewis, John Miller, 
Benjamin Mendenhall, Samuel Garrett, Richard Blaris. 

1715. David Lloyd, Samuel Garrett, Henry Lewis, Henry Hayes, William Pile, 

Edward Beazer, Philip Taylor, David Lewis. 

1716. David Lloyd, John Blunston, Henry Hayes, Joseph Pennock, David Harry, 

John Maris, John Worrell, Henry Oburn. 

1717. David Lloyd, Nathaniel Newlin, Richard Hayes, Samuel Garrett, James 

Gibbons, John Wood, George Maris, Henry Miller. 

1718. David Lloyd, Richard Hayes, Nathaniel Newlin, John Wright, James 

Gibbons, Henry Lewis, Henry Oburn. 

1719. Isaac Taylor, Joseph Pennock, Moses Key, John Bezer, Nathaniel Newlin, 

John Maris, James Gibbons, Evan Lewis. 

1720. Joseph Pennock, Samuel Levis, Israel Taylor, John Maris, Ralph Pile, 

Daniel Williamson, David Lewis. 

1721. Samuel Levis, Jr., William Pile, Daniel Williamson, Isaac Taylor, David 

Lewis, Henry Oburn, Nathaniel Newlin, Israel Taylor. 

1722. Samuel Levis, Jr., Joseph Pennock, David Lewis, William Pile, Daniel 

Williamson, Israel Taylor, Nathaniel Newlin, Isaac Caylor. 

1723. Moses Key, Joseph Pennock, William Webb, Thomas Chandler, David 

Lloyd (speaker,) John Crosby, Samuel Levis, Jr., Samuel Nutt. 

1724. Moses Key, Joseph Pennock, William Pile, Thomas Chandler, Elisha 

Gatchell, John Parry, John Crosby. 

1725. Thomas Chandler, David Lloyd, (speaker,) William Webb, John Wright, 

Samuel HoUingsworth, William Pusey, George Ascheton, William 
Pas c hall. 

1726. David Lloyd, (speaker.) Samuel Nutt, Samuel HoUingsworth, John 

Wright, Richard Hayes, Joseph Pennock, Thomas Chandler, William 
Pusey. 



526 APPENDIX. — NOTE D. 

1727. John Parry, Samuel Hollings worth, David Lloyd, Thomas Chandler, 

John Carter, Daniel Williamson, Simon Meredith, William Webb. 

1728. Thomas Chandler, David Lloyd, Samuel Hollingsworth, John Parry, 

William Webb, Philip Taylor, John Carter, Henry Hayes. 

1729. Caleb Cowpland, Richard Hayes, Joseph Brinton, Thomas Chandler, 

Samuel Gilpin, James James, Joseph Pennock. 

1730. Henry Pierce, John Taylor, Samuel Levis, John Parry, Thomas Chandler, 

Samuel Gilpin, William Webb, Henrj- Hayes. 

1731. Joseph Harvey, John Parry, Samuel Levis, Caleb Cowpland, John Tay- 

lor. Joseph Brinton, Henry Pierce, Evan Lewis. 

1732. Caleb Cowpland, Joseph Harvey, Joseph Brinton, Thomas Thomas, Wil- 

liam Webb, Joseph Pennock, John Davis, William Hewes. 

1733. Caleb Cowpland, Joseph Harvey, Joseph Pennock, Joseph Brinton, John 

Davis, Thomas Thomas, John Owen, William Moore. 

1734. Joseph Harvey, Joseph Brinton, Caleb Cowpland, John Evans, William 

Webb, William Moore, John Owen, Joseph Pennock. 

1735. Joseph Harvey, William Moore, Joseph Pennock, Caleb Cowpland, John 

Evans, John Parry, Joseph Brinton, Thomas Cummings. 

1736. Joseph Harvey, Thomas Cummings, John Evans, Caleb Cowpland, Wil- 

liam Webb, William Moore, Thomas Chandler, John Parry. 

1737. Thomas Chandler, John Harvey, John Evans, Thomas Cummings, William 

Moore, James Gibbons, William Hughs, Richard Hayes. 

1738. William Moore, James Gibbons, Thomas Chandler, Joseph Harvey, John 

Owen, Thomas Tatnall, William Hughs, Jeremiah Starr. 

1739. James Gibbons, Thomas Chandler, Joseph Harvey, William Hughs, Jere- 

miah Starr, William Moore, Samuel Levis, John Owen. 

1740. Thomas Chandler, Joseph Harvey, James Gibbons, William Hughs, 

Samuel Levis, John Owen, Jeremiah Starr, Thomas Tatnall. 

1741. Same as 1740. 

1742. Same as 1740. 

1743. Jeremiah Starr, James Gibbons, Thomas Chandler, Joseph Harvey, 

Joseph Pennock, Samuel Levis, George Ashbridge, Jr., Francis Yarnall. 

1744. George Ashbridge, Francis Yarnall, Joseph Pennock, Samuel Levis, 

James Gibbons, Joseph Harvey, Thomas Cummings, Thomas Chandler. 

1745. Joseph Pennock, Thomas Cummings, George Ashbridge, Francis Yarn- 

all, Robert Lewis, Joseph Harvey, Samuel Levis, Thomas Chandler. 

1746. Francis Yarnall, George Ashbridge, Robert Lewis, Thomas Worth, 

Samuel Levis, Peter Dicks, Thomas Chandler, John Owen. 

1747. Samuel Levis, Francis Yarnall, George Ashbridge, Thomas Worth, Peter 

Dicks, John Owen, John Davis, Thomas Chandler. 

1748. Thomas Worth, George Ashbridge, Francis Yarnall, John Davis, John 

Owen, Joseph James, Thomas Chandler, Joseph Gibbons. 

1749. Joseph Gibbons, George Ashbridge, Henry Hockley, Thomas Chandler, 

Nathaniel Grubb, Nathaniel Pennock, Roger Hunt, Thomas Cummings. 

1750. Same members as 1749. 

1751. Joseph Gibbons, Thomas Cummings, George Ashbridge, Nathaniel 

Grubb, Peter Dicks, Nathaniel Pennock, Henry Hockley, Thomas 
Chandler. 

1752. Joseph Gibbons, Thomas Cummings, Nathaniel Pennock, Peter Dicks, 

George Ashbridge, Nathaniel Grubb, William Peters, Jacob Howell. 

1753. Thomas Cammings, Nathaniel Pennock, George Ashbridge, Joseph Gib- 

bons, Nathaniel Grubb, Peter Dicks, William Peters, Joseph Jones. 

1754. Members of 1753 re-elected. 

1755. Same members re-elected. 

1756. Joseph Gibbons, Peter Dicks, John Morton, Roger Hunt, George Ash- 

bridge, Hugh Trimble, Nathaniel Pennock, Nathaniel Grubb. 

1757. Joseph Gibbons, George Ashbridge, John Morton, Roger Hunt, Isaac 

Wayne, Nathaniel Grubb, Hugh Trimble, Joshua Ash. 

1758. The members of 1757 re-elected. 

1759. John Morton, George Ashbridge, Joshua Ash, Joseph Gibbons, Hugh 

Trimble, Roger Hunt, Peter Dicks, Isaac Wayne. 



APPENDIX. — NOTE D. 527 

1760. George Ashbridge, John Morton, Roger Hunt, Joshua Ash, Joseph Gib- 

bons, Nathaniel Pennock, Isaac Wayne, William Boyd. 

1761. George Ashbridge, Joseph Gibbons, Nathaniel Pennock, Joshua Ash, 

Isaac Pearson, John Morton, Isaac Wayne, Roger Hunt. 

1762. George Ashbridge, Nathaniel Pennock, Joshua Ash, Isaac Pearson, John 

Morton, Isaac Wayne, Joseph Gibbons, John Jacobs. 

1763. George Ashbridge, Joshua Ash, Isaac Pearson, John Morton, Isaac 

Wayne, Joseph Gibbons, John Jacobs. 

1764. George Ashbridge, John Morton, Nathaniel Pennock, Joshua Ash, Isaac 

Pearson, Charles Humphreys, John Jacobs, John Fairlamb. 

1765. Same members re-elected. 

1766. John Morton, George Ashbridge, Nathaniel Pennock, John Jacobs, 

Charles Humphreys, Isaac Pearson, Joshua Ash, John Minshall. 

1767. Isaac Pearson, Charles Humphreys, John Sellers, George Ashbridge, 

John Minshall, Jonas Preston, John Jacobs, John Sellers, Nathaniel 
Pennock. 

1768. John Jacobs, Nathaniel Pennock, George Ashbridge, Charles Humphreys, 

John Sellers, John Minshall, Isaac Pearson, John Crosby. 

1769. George Ashbridge, Charles Humphreys, Isaac Pearson, John Sellers, 

John Jacobs, John Minshall, John Crosby, John Morton. 

1770. Same members re-elected. 

1771. Same members re-elected. 

1772. Charles Humphreys, Isaac Pearson, John Morton, John Jacobs, John 

Minshall, James Hockley, George Ashbridge, Benjamin Bartholomew. 

1773. Isaac Pearson, Benjamin Bartholomew, John Jacobs, Charles Humphreys, 

John Morton, James Gibbons, John Minshall, Joseph Pennock. 

1774. Benjamin Bartholomew, John Jacobs, Charles Humphreys, John Morton, 

James Gibbons, Joseph Pennock, Isaac Pearson, Anthony Wayne. 

1775. Same members except Joseph Pyle, was elected in the place of Anthony 

Wayne. 

1776. John Jacobs, Caleb Davis, Joseph Gardiner, John Fulton, Samuel Cun- 

ningham, John Sellers. 

1777. Joseph Gardiner, John Fulton, Samuel Cunningham, John Culbertson, 

Lewis Gronow, Stephen Cochran. 

1778. John Fulton, Joseph Gardiner, Patrick Anderson, John Culbertson, 

Stephen Cochran,' John Flemming. 

1779. David Thomas, Henry Hayes, John Fulton, James Boyd, Patrick Ander- 

son, Joseph Parke, William Harris, Sketchley Morton. 

1780. David Thomas, Henry Hayes, William Harris, Joseph Parke, James Boyd, 

Patrick Anderson, John Culbertson, Evan Evans. 

1781. Percifor Frazer, John Culbertson, Thomas Maffat, Evan Evans, John Han- 

num, James Moore, Patrick Anderson, John Lindsay. 

1782. Percifor Frazer, Thomas Strawbridge, David Thomas, Benjamin Brannan, 

John Lindsay, Thomas Maffat, James Boyd, Evan Evans. 

1783. David Thomas, Evan Evans, John Hannum, Joseph Parke, Richard Wil- 

ling, Thomas Potts, Thomas Bull, Edward Jones. 

1784. Richard Willing, Anthony Wayne, Edward Jones, Robert Ralston, James 

Moore, Joseph Stra abridge, Percifor Frazer, Thomas Potts, Charles 
Humphreys. 

1785. Anthony Wayne, Robert Ralston, James Moore, Thomas Bull, John Han- 

num, Robert Smith, Samuel Evans, Jonathan Morris. 

1786. James Moore, Richard Willing, Robert Ralston, Samuel Evans, Richard 

Thomas, Townsend Wheelen. 

1787. Same members re-elected. 

1788. Richard Thomas, James Moore, Mark Willcox, John McDowell, Caleb 

James, Richard Downing, Jr. 



528 



APPENDIX. — NOTE D. 



MEMBERS OF THE SENATE OF PENNSYLVANIA ELECTED IN 
DELAWARE COUNTY. 



1790. John Sellers, for four years. 

1794. Nathaniel Newlln, for two years. 
1796. " " for four years. 

1800. John Pearson, for four years. 

1804. William Pennell, for four years. 

1808. Jonas Preston, " " 

1812. John Newbold, " " 

1816. Maskell Ewing, " " 

1824. John Kerlin, " " 

1828. " " " " 

1832. George Smith, " " 

1836. Henry Myers, elected for four years. 

1839. John'T. Huddleson, three " 

1848. H. Jones Brooke, " " 

1854. James J. Lewis, " " 

1860 Jacob S. Serrill, " " 



In a district with the City of 
Philadelphia. 



In a district with Chester County. 



In a district with Chester and 
Montgomery Counties. 

In a district with Chester County. 



MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY REPRESENTING THE 
COUNTY OF DELAWARE FROM 1789 TO 1862. 

MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



1790- 


-91. 


Hugh Lloyd, 
Richard Riley. 


1808-09, 


Thomas Smith, 
Wm. Trimble. 


1791- 


-92. 


Nathaniel Newlin, 
Hugh Lloyd. 


1809-10. 


Thomas Smith, 
Wm. Pennock. 


1792- 


-93. 


Joseph Gibbons, 
Wm. West. 


1810-11. 


Wm. Pennock, 
Thomas Smith. 


1793- 


-94. 


Nathaniel Newlin, 
Wm. West. 


1811-12. 


Wm, Pennock. 
Thomas Smiih. 


1794- 


-95. 


Jonas Preston, 
Wm. West. 


1812-13. 


Wm. Cheyney, 
John Thompson, 


1795- 


-96. 


Jonas Preston, 
Wm. West. 


1813-14. 


W'ra- Cheyney. 
John Thompson. 


1796- 


-97. 


Jonas Preston, 
Wm. West, 


1814-15. 


Samuel Edwards, 
Wm. Cheyney. 


1797- 


-98. 


Jonas Preston, 
Moses Palmer. 


1815-16. 


Samuel Anderson, 
Samuel Edwards. 


1798- 


-99. 


Jonas Preston, 
Moses Palmer. 


1816-17. 


Samuel Anderson, 
Wm. Cheyney. 


1799- 


-1800. Jonas Preston, 


1817-18. 


Samuel Anderson, 






Moses Palmer. 




Wm. Cheyney. 


1800- 


-01. 


Moses Palmer, 
Jonas Preston. 


1818-19. 


Wm. Cheyney, 
John Kerlin, 


1801- 


-02. 


Benjamin H. Smith, 
Jonas Preston. 


1819-20. 


John Kerlin. 
Thomas Robinson, 


1802- 


-03. 


Benjamin H. Smith, 
Isaac G. Gilpin. 


1820-21. 


George G. Leiper, 
Abner Lewis. 


1803- 


-04. 


Wm. Pennell, 
Benjamin H. Smith. 


1821-22. 


John Lewis, 
Wm. Cheyney. 


1804- 


-05. 


Wm. Pennell, 


1822-23. 


Samuel Anderson. 






Wm. Trimble. 


1823-24. 


Abner Lewis. 


1805- 


-06. 


Wm. Trimble, 


1824-25. 


Abner Lewis. 






Wm. Pennock. 


1825-26. 


Samuel Anderson. 


1806- 


-07. 


Wm. Pennock, 


1826-27. 


Joseph Engle, 






Wm. Trimble. 


1827-28. 


Wm. Martin. 


1807- 


-08. 


Wm. Pennock, 


1828-29. 


Edward Siter. 






Wm. Trimble. 


1829-30. 


Samuel Anderson. 





APPENDIX. 


— NOTE D. 


1830-31. 


John Lindsay. 


1847. 


Sketchley Morton. 


1831-32. 


Samuel Anderson. 


1848. 


James J. Lewis. 


1832-33. 


Samuel Anderson. 


1849. 


Janaes J. Lewis. 


1833-34. 


Samuel Anderson. 


1850. 


John M. Broomall. 


1834-35. 


Samuel Anderson. 


1851. 


John M. Broomall. 


1835-36. 


Wm. Mendenhall, 


1852. 


Jonathan P. Abraham 


1836-3'7. 


John Hinkson, 


1853. 


Jonathan P. Abraham 


1837-38. 


John Edwards. 


1854. 


Thomas H. Maddock. 


1839. 


John K. Zeilin. 


1855. 


Charles D. Manley. 


1840. 


Joshua P. Eyre. 


1856. 


Hiram Cleaver. 


1841." 


Joshua P. Eyre. 


1857. 


Thomas P. Powell. 


1842. 


H. Jones Brooke. 


1858. 


William D. Pennell. 


1843. 


H. Jones Brooke. 


1859. 


William D. Pennell. 


1844. 


John Larkin, Jr. 


1860. 


Chalkley Harvey. 


1845. 


John Larkin, Jr. 


1861. 


William Gamble. 


1846. 


Sketchley Morton. 







529 



LIST OF THE SHERIFFS OF CHESTER COUNTY UNTIL THE COUNTY 

WAS DIVIDED. 



1681. 


John Test. 


1744. 


John Owen. 


1682. 


Thomas Usher. 


1747. 


Benjamin Davis. 


1683. 


Thomas Withers. 


1750. 


John Owen. 


1684. 


Jeremy Collett. 


1752. 


William Hay. 


1685. 


Thomas Usher. 


1753. 


Isaac Pearson. 


1687. 


Joshua Fearne. 


1756. 


John Fairlamb. 


1689. 


George Foreman. 


1759. 


Benjamin Davis. 


1691. 


Caleb Pusey. 


1762. 


John Fairlamb. 


1693. 


Joseph Wood. 


1765: 


Philip Ford. 


1697. 


Andrew Job. 


1767. 


John Morton. 


1700. 


John Hoskins. 


1770. 


Jesse Maris. 


1708. 


John Simcock. 


1773. 


Henry Hayes. 


1709. 


John Hoskins. 


1775. 


Nathaniel Vernon. 


1715. 


Henry Worley. 


1777. 


Robert Smith. 


1718. 


Nicholas Fairlamb. 


1779. 


David Mackey. 


1720. 


John Taylor. 


1781. 


John Gardiner. 


1731. 


John Owen. 


1783. 


William Gibbons. 


1733. 


John Parry. 


1785. 


William Gibbons. 


1742. 


Benjamin Davis. 


1787. 


Ezekiel Leonard. 




SHERIFFS OF DE 


LAWARE COUNTY. 


1789. 


Nicholas Fairlamb. 


1831. 


William Baldwin died in office, 


1792. 


James Barnard. 




and Charles Baldwin served 


1795. 


Abraham Dicks (two terms.) 




till November, 1834. 


1798. 


John Odenheimer. 


1834. 


Samuel A. Price. 


1801. 


Matthias Kerlin, Jr. 


1837. 


Evans S. Way. 


1804. 


John Odenheimer. 


1840. 


John Larkin, Jr. 


1807. 


Richard P. Lloyd. 


1843. 


Samuel Hibberd. 


1810. 


Isaac Cochrane. 


1846. 


Robert R. Dutton. 


1813. 


Daniel Thompson. 


1849. 


Jonathan Esrey, died in office, 


1816. 


Robert Fairlamb. 




and Henry F. Esrey served till 


1819. 


Samuel Anderson. 




November, 1851. 


1822. 


Joseph Weaver. 


1851. 


Aaron James. 


1825. 


John Hinkson. 


1854, 


John M. Hall. 


1828. 


Jehu Broomhall. 


1857. 


Jonathan Vernon. 






1860. 


Norris L. Yarnall. 



34 



530 APPENDIX. — NOTE E. 

NOTE E.— Page 205. 

William Penn, True & Absolute Prop'^ «fe Govern'' in Chiefe of the Province of 
Pensilvania & Terri'es thereunto belonging: 

To all to whom these p'sents shall come, Sendeth Greeting : 

Whereas, the fifreeholders & Inhabitants of the lower parts of the county of 
Chester, on the river Delaware in the s* Province, through a laudable desire & 
inclination of improving the s*! parts, by setling more close together, & enlarge- 
ing of commerce, have humbly besought mee that I would erect into a market 
town a certain comodious place, well situated for that purpose, aforetime 
comonly called Markus Hook, with the privilidges of a Fair & Weekly Market 
to be held therein: 

Know Ye, therefore. That I, favoring the just & reasonable request of the s'' 
ffreeholders & inhabitants, by virtue of the powers by the King's Letters Patent, 
to me & my heirs given & granted, have erected, & do, for me, my heirs & suc- 
cessors, by the tenour of these p'sents, erect into a Market Town the s"! place, 
aforetime called Marcus Hook, or such part thereof as is hereinafter described, 
under the bounds & limits hereinafter menton'd . That is to say, all that tract or 
space of ground lying & being situate on the river Delaware ; Beginning at the 
upper point of the land of Jonas Sandilands upon the river & extending along 
the s* river to the lower point of the land of Nathaniel Lamplugh, about two 
hundred & fifty perches, be it more or less : and from the river Dellaware extend- 
ing backwards about one thousand feet, by lines at right angles with the river, 
from the s'^ two points to the sixty foot road leading to Chester ; which town, as 
above bounded, I will shall be called Chichester, as of late it hath vsually been 
called, and I doe hereby grant unto the inhabitants of the s"i town free ingress 
and egress, by land & by water, to & from the s'^ town, through all parts of this 
Province & Terr'ies ; As also, to lay out all such streets, highways, lanes, alleys 
& passages in the s'* town, as to them shall seem meet & convenient to lay out 
for the accomodation thereof; & more especially, that there shall be one street 
called ffront street, leading from the upper to the lower part of the s'^ town : The 
whole length of the s"! town ; bounded to the north north-west, with a line 
paralell to the river, at the distance therefrom that W''^ Clayton's dwelling house 
now stands, & in breadth fifty foot ; Also, one other street called Broad street, 
beginning at the s*' ffront street, on the east north-east side of the s** House of 
•W™ Clayton, running in a direct line north north-west, one thousand ffeet, or 
thereabouts, to the s"* sixty foot road leading to Chester, & in breadth the same ' 
distance that now is between the si* W™ Clayton's House, & the house now of 
Roger Jackson, for the length of two hundred and fourteen feet ; & at the extent 
of the s'i two hundred and fourteen feet there shall be a Publick Market Place, 
in breadth one hundred and forty feet, & in length along the Broad street two 
hundred and thirty feet; & from the s'^ Market place to the sixty foot road 
afores'J, the s'^ Broad street shall be in breadth one hundred feet: Also, one other 
street called New street, in breadth twenty-five foot, beginning at the 8"^ ffront 
street, at the distance of ffour hundred & twenty foot to the east north-east of 
Broad street & running in a direct line north north-west, to the s'^ sixty foot 
road : Also one lane, called Market Lane, in breadth thirty foot, beginning at 
the s'^ New street, ffour hundred & fourteen feet from the ffront street & running 
parralell to the s* front street, three hundred eighty-three feet into the Market 
Place : Also, one other lane, called Discord Lane, in breadth thirty foot, begin- 
ning at the south corner of the Market Place, & runing west south-west, paralell 
to the s'' Front street, to the outhermost bounds of the town ; which s^ streets, 
Market Place, & lanes, I do hereby grant & confirm for the s'* publick vses for- . 
ever, together with all other such streets, squares, alleys or passages as now are 
or hereafter shall be laid out as afores<^, reserving always to all persons whatso- 
ever all the right & inheritance which they now have or hereafter may have or 
lawfully claim in or to any lands or lottS within the bounds or limits afores'*, the 
publick streets, ways, lanes, alleys & Market Place only excepted. And I doe 
further, for me, my heirs & successors, grant to the s"! inhabitants and ffree- 
holders, to have, hold & keep a free market in the s<* Market Place, on the sixth 



APPENDIX. — NOTE E. 531 

day of every week, forever, with ffree leave & liberty, to & for the s* inhabitants 
& all others who shall resort thither to buy & sell on the s^ sixth day of every 
week at the said place, all manner of provisions & other necessaries for life, with 
the rights, privilidges & immunities whatsoever that to a free market, according 
to the comon customs & vsages of England do belong : For the better regula- 
tion of which Market, 1 do hereby constitute & appoint Walter Marten dark 
thereof, to be succeeded, in case of death, removal from the s'l place, or other 
incapacity by such person & persons in the s* office forever, as two Justices of 
the Peace of the county of Chester, dwelling in or nearest to the s*! town, toge- 
ther with six of the chiefe inhabitants thereof, to be chosen in the Market Place, 
by the ffreeholders of the town & township of Chichester, shall appoint, 
with full power to the s'^ Walter Marten & his success'', to be appointed as 
afores'5, to discharge all the parts & duties of the si^ office of Clark of the market, 
as ffully & amply, to all intents & purposes, as any other Clark of the Market 
within this Governm* may or can : And, for the greater incouragement of trade 
to the s'* town, by the resort of persons from remoter parts, I doe further 
grant to the s* inhabitants, ffreeholders & others, ffuU power & liberty To Have, 
Hold & Keep a PUBLICK FAIR, to be held on the nine & twentieth day of Sep- 
tember, & on y« two days ffollowing, in every year, for all lawful wares & mer- 
chandizes in the s"^ Market Place, and for horse & cattle in the upper part of 
Broad street, adjoyning the s* Market Place : Provided, That there shall be no 
unlawful sports, plays, gaming, revelling, drunkenness or debauchery, nor any 
other disorders, nor loose & idle practises tolerated in the s"! ffair, in any part or 
place thereof, or in the s'* town, by reason of the s'^ fair, at any time whatsoever ; 
nor any ale, wine, rume, or other strong liquors, sold in the s'l fair, but in the 
usuall dwelling houses of the s'* town : And for the better regulation of the s*^ 
fairs, and preservation of good orders therein, I doe hereby constitute & appoint 
Walter Marten & Phillip Roman Wardens of the s'^ ffair, to be, in case of death, 
removall from the s"! place, or other incapacity, succeeded by such two persons 
in the s"* ofiice, forever, as two Justices of the Peace of the county of Chester, 
dwelling in or nearest to the s'^ town, with twelve of the chiefe fi-eeholders of the 
town & township of Chichester (to be chosen as afores'^) shall think fitt to ap- 
point, and upon the decease, removall, or other incapacity of any of the s'^ War- 
dens to act any further in their s'^ office, no fair shall be held in the s'^ town till 
a successor 05, success"''' to the s"* Warden or Wardens be duly chosen, according 
to the tenor of these p'sents, anything herein contain'd to the contrary notwith- 
standing : And, I doe hereby grant to the s"^ Wardens & to their successors to 
to be elected as afores'^, full power forever to exercise within the sii fairs every, 
year, during the time they shall be kept, all necessary jurisdiction & authority 
for suppressing of vice, maintaining good order, & regulating all other things 
whatsoever within the s* town, to the s^ fairs immediately relating : 

In Witness Whebeop, I have caused these, my Letters to be made Patent : 
Witness myself, at Philadelphia, the twelfth day of September, in the thirteenth 
year of the reign of William the Third, over England, Scotland, Ffrance and 
Ireland, King, &c ; & the one & twentieth of my Goverm' over this Province of 
Pensilvania. Annoq d'm, 1701. 

Wf. Penn. 
Recorded ye IV* 7^', 1701. 
By comand of the Prop'y 

& Govern'' 

James Logan, Secr. 



532 APPENDIX. — NOTE F. 

NOTE F.— Pages 208, 211. 

EXTRACTS FROM AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE INCORPORATED 
SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN 
PARTS, &C. ALSO FROM THE JOURNAL OF GEORGE KEITH. 

" At the same time, [1704] the Society received a letter from the Vestry of 
Chester in Pennsylvania, full of religious sentiment, ' that they did bless God 
who had put into the Hearts of so many Charitable persons, to engage in the 
great Work of promoting the salvation of such as were so widely removed from 
all Convenience of Divine Worship, as they were, till the Christian Charity of the 
Society, not only procured a Minister for them, but also supported him." This 
truly was absolutely necessary, for though in some parts of that province, and 
particularly in and about Philadelphia, Abundance of Souls were daily added 
to the Church, yet the number of this Parish being small, and the charge of 
building their church (not then quite finished,) together with the great scarcity of 
money among them since the war with Spain, had quite disenabled them from 
taking that Weight from the Society, which otherwise they would have willingly 
done. They never before had grounds to hope the Gospel would be Propagated, in 
those above all other Foreign Parts, till they found themselves the subjects of the 
Society's care." The Society received also letters ******* from the 
Welsh people settled at Radnor, requesting the Corporation with great earnest- 
ness to send them Missionaries, and expressing the greatest love and esteem for 
the Doctrines and Discipline of the church of England." — p. 53. 

" The people of Chester County showed very early zeal to have the Church of 
England Worship settled among them. This county is so called because most 
of the first Inhabitants of it came from Cheshire in England. Chester, the chief 
town of the county is finely situated on the River Delaware, at that place three 
miles over; the Road for Shipping here is very Commodious and safe, and so 
large that a Royal Navy might ride there. The People here were stirred up by 
Mr. Evans' Preaching to engage in building a church. They erected a very good 
Brick Fabrick, one of the neatest on the Continent, and completed it in July 
1702, at the sole expence of private subscriptions of the Church Members; it 
was opened on St. Paul's Day, and therefore called St. Pauls, aod Mr. George 
Keith preached the first Sermon in it. The Society appointed the Reverend Mr. 
Nicholls Missionary in 1703, he acquainted the Society in 1704, that he found 
the People very well inclined to the Church of England, and recommended them 
earnestly to the Society's care, on account of their good Disposition, tho they 
had not any fixed Minister till now. The people made a subscription of £60 a 
year towards Mr. Nicholls' support, and became very regular and constant at 
Divine Worship. Mr. Nicholls said he did not want a considerable Congregation 
at his first arrival, notwithstanding his being seated in the midst of Quakers, 
and ascribes this advantage to the industrious preaching, of the Society's itine- 
rant missionaries, the Reverend Mr. Keith, and Mr. Talbot, who had prepared the 
People very much by their labours. 

" Mr. Jasper Yeates and Mr. James Sandelands, two worthy Gentlemen of this 
place, deserved particular mention here; they were the principal promoters of the 
building of this Church ; Mr. Thomas Powell gave also a valuable piece of ground 
for the minister's garden, the Parishoners contributing the rest ; and as soon as 
the Outside was completed, the inside was beautified mostly at the Expence of 
those who frequented it ; and adorned with decent Furniture, a handsome Pulpit 
and Pewes. Mr. Nicholls continued here with good success in his Labours, till 
about 1708, at which time he removed to Maryland. The Revend Mr. Ross 
came from New Castle and officiated here upon the Peoples Desire. He was 
very industrious in his Ministry and acceptable to the People. He moved the 
Society to send some good Books here to prevent the Peoples continuing in un- 
settled notions of Religion; and said he was much concerned to observe in his 
Travels up and down the country that there were a variety of Books sent and 
placed in almost every Quaker family, especially Barclay's Apology, to fortifie 



APPENDIX. — NOTE F. 533 

the People in their errors, and furnish them with arguments against the Truth ; 
whereas in the houses of the Church People, few or no books were to be seen. 
Upon which the Society has since sent Quantities of bibles, Common Prayers 
and Doctrinal Tracts to be dispersed among the People. However the Society 
did not continue Mr. Ross at Chester, tho he behaved himself entirely to their 
satisfaction, but directed him to remove to New Castle, where he was first ap- 
pointed ; and sent to Chester, the Reverend Mr. Humphreys their Missionary. 
He used great Diligence in the serving all parts of his cure, and gained the Love 
and Esteem of his Parishoners. There were at that time but very few Missionaries 
in that Province, and being obliged to divide themselves among 11 or 12 Con- 
gregations, they had more tlian Employ sufficient. The Church at Chester con- 
tinued in a flourishing condition during Mr. Humphrey's Residence. He used to 
preach once a month at Chichester, a town of some note, where the people had 
built a convenient Chapel, upon his persuasion and promise to attend them once 
a month. It is distant four miles from Chester, and there is a Legacy left by 
Mr. Jeremiah Collett to the Minister at Chester, to preach four times a year there. 
This Chapel is very convenient for aged People Youth and Servants, (who can- 
not go so far as Chester,) to come to hear Divine Service. Mr. Humphreys had 
a congregation, generally, of about 150 people. He used also once a month, to 
visit the small neighboring town of Concord, where he had a good number of 
people for his Hearers ; who have since for the more decent performance of 
Divine Service, a little Church built. 

" Oxford and Radnor, two Welsh settlements, were first visited by Mr. Evans 
from Philadelphia ; and the People having been Members of the Church of Eng- 
land, when they were transplanted from Wales hither, were desirous of having 
that form of worship fixed among them again. By his occasional Sermons, and 
the visits of other Clergymen, the People of Oxford were encouraged to build a 
neat and convenient Church. The Congregation consisted chiefly of the younger 
People, and the whole town composed of about 20 families ; they not only built a 
Church, but subscribed also 20£ a year to their minister, in money and country 
produce. The people of Radnor also petitioned for a Minister ; and the Society 
appointed the Reverend Mr. Club Missionary to Oxford and Radnor, two Towns 
being about 20 miles distant from each other. He arrived there in 1714. The 
inhabitants of both Towns received him with great kindness, as being well 
known to them before; during his being Schoolmaster at Philadelphia; The 
people of Radnor especially were very thankful to the Society, for having been 
pleased to consider their Wants, and renewed their Promise of giving him their 
best Assistance, and presently after his arrival, heartily engaged to build a hand- 
some stone Church, which tliey have since performed. Mr. Club was very ear- 
nest in all parts of his Ministerial Office, and very successful in his Labours, and 
happy in engaging the love and Esteem of all his people. But the Cure of these 
two Churches engaged him in great Fatigue, not only on account of the Distance 
between the Places, but because of the Extremity of the Weather, whether hot 
or cold. Mr. Club contracted so many indispositions by his Labours, as put an 
end to his Life in 1715. The People were so sensible of the Difficulties he under- 
went, that after his Death, the Church Wardens of the Parish wrote thus to the 
Society : ' Mr. Club, our late Minister, was the first that undertook the Cure of 
Oxford and Radnor, and he paid dear for it; for the great Fatigue of riding be- 
tween the two Churches, in such dismal ways and Weather as we generally have 
for four Months in the Winter, soon put a period to his life.' 

" Both Towns wrote again to the Society, requesting another Missionary, the 
Society wrote a Letter exhorting them to consider on some proper means among 
themselves for making sufficient allowance for a minister to reside constantly 
among them. In answer to this they assured the Society, ' they were heartily 
disposed to do their best ; but at present their circumstances would not do great 
things. They were at present but poor Settlers, who had newly settled Land 
backwards in the Wilderness, and had not yet so much as their own Habitations 
free from Debts ; that indeed they had built Churches, in hopes of having Minis- 
ters from the Society ; and had thereby so much incumbered themselves, that it 



534 APPENDIX. — NOTE F. 

would be some years, in all Probability, before they could clear that debt. The 
Society were desirous this good Disposition of the People should not be disap- 
pointed, and in 1718, appointed the Reverend Mr. Wayman their Missionary at 
Oxford and Radnor. ************** The .inhabitants of Ox- 
ford purchased a House, Orchard and 63 acres of Land, for the use and Habita- 
tion of the minister ; and the People of Radnor have obliged themselves to 
contribute 40£, Proclamation money, of that Country, yearly, towards the sup- 
port of a Minister to preach to them in Welsh, their Native Language; because 
many of them do not understand English. * * * * * *" 

The following memoranda were extracted from " The Journal of the travels 
of the Reverend George Keith, A. M.* from New Hampshire to Caratuck on the 
continent of North America." 

" Sunday, January 24—1702 [1703. N. S.] I preached at Philadelphia on Mat- 
thew, 5. 17, both in the forenoon and afternoon; Mr. Evans, the Minister of Phi- 
ladelphia, having that day been at Chester, in Pennsylvania, to accompany Mr. 
Talbot who was to preach the first sermon in the church after it was built, 
(p. 59.) 

" Feb. 7. Sunday, I preached at Chester in Pennsylvania in the new Church, 
on Mat. 16. 18. 

" Feb. 9. Tuesday, I preached a second sermon on the same text at Coward 
[Concord] in Pennsylvania, at the house of John Hanon [Hannum.] 

" Feb 11. I preached a third Sermon on that text at the house of Thomas Powell 
in Chester county, both these men, John Hanon [Hannum] and his wife and 
Thomas Powell and his wife, had been Quakers, but have become members of 
the Church, with divers others of their neighbours. 

" Feb. 12. I had a dispute with Mr. Killingworth, an Anabaptist preacher at 
the house of Thomas Powell before a great Auditory * * *. This dispute 
was about the manner of baptism — ' whether infants of believers are proper sub- 
jects of Baptism,' ordination, &c. 

"August 2, 1703. I came to Vpland, alias Chester, by Delaware river, Mr. 
Talbot having gone before me to preach there August 1. 

" August 3. I preached in the Church at Chester, a second Sermon on Titus 
2 — 11, 12, 13, 14, and had a considerable Auditory: We were kindly enter- 
tained at the house of Jasper Yeates there." — (p. 73.) 

"Sunday, April 9, 1704. I preached at Chester in Pennsylvania on John, 4. 
24, being my last sermon there. — (p. 80.) 

Keith's journal was published in London, 1706. He enumerates five Church 
of England congregations in Pennsylvania and Delaware, " who are supplied 
with Ministers and have convenient Churches." St. Paul's is the only one so 
circumstanced in Chester county. 

* Mr. Keith is the same person who was formerly a preacher in the Society of Friends, and 
after having created a division in that society was disowned as a member. He returned to Eng- 
land, became an Episcopalian, took orders in the Church, and now came back to America as a 
missionary of the Society, for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts. 



APPENDIX. — NOTE G. 



535 



NOTE G.— Pige 233. 

LIST OF TAXABLES RESIDING IN THE SEVERAL TOWNSHIPS NOW 
COMPOSING THE COUNTY OF DELAWARE IN THE YEAR 1722, 
WITH THE ASSESSED VALUE OP THE REAL ESTATE HELD BY EACH 
TAXABLE, AND ALSO THE AMOUNT OF TAX ASSESSED IN EACH 
TOWNSHIP. 



HAVERFOKD RATE. 

Richard Hayes, Esq., 

Samuel Lewis, 

Henry Lewis, 

John Havard, 

Danl. Humphrey, 

David Llewellyn, 

David Lewis, 

Humphrey Ellis, 

John Parry, 

Henry Lawrence, 

Thomas Lawrence, 

Edwd. Jones, 

John Thomas, 

Saml. Rees, 

Rees Price's land in Eastown 

Thomas David, 

Walter Lloyd, 

Joseph Lewis, 

Griffith Evan, 

Danl. Rees, . 

NON-RESIDENT LAND 

Owen Thomas, 

FREEMEN. 

Thomas Vaughan. 
John David. 

Tax £13 lis. 3d. 

NEWTOWN RATE. 
Daniel Williamson, 
Evan Lewis, and land in Marple, . 
Wm. Lewis, . . . , 

Lewis Lewis, and land in Cain, , 
David Thomas, and land in Bran- 

dywine, . 
James Price, 
John Williamson, 
Henry Lewis, 
Thomas Rees, 
Lewis Rees, 
Joshua Thompson, 
John Pawks, 
Morgan James, 
Daniel W™Son, 
John Rees, . 
Rees Howell, 



£60 

60 

54 

112 

112 

100 

100 

40 

60 

52 

52 

35 

24 

36 

60 

24 

20 

16 

15 

28 



15 



50 
160 
100 

70 

40 
20 
50 
10 
20 
16 
20 
50 
20 
24 
28 
20 



Lawrence Pearson, 


. £40 


John Hitchkin, . 


. 15 


Tho. Thomas, 


. 20 


Richard Iddings, . 


. 26 


John Meridith, 


. 16 


Jacob Jones, 


. 20 


John Griffith, 


. 14 


NON-RESIDENT 


LAND. 


Ann Welsh, 


. 30 


Tax £12 17s. 2d. 


RADNOR RATE. 


David Harry, 


. 54 


Richard Ormes, . 


. 20 


Wm. Thomas, 


. 30 


David Pugh, 


. 20 


Sarah Abram, 


. 24 


Hugh David, 


. 8 


Arthur Jones, 


. 6 


John David, 


. 34 


John Thomas, 


. 40 


John Morgan, Jr., 


. 24 


Richard Richards, 


. 24 


David Jones, 


. 20 


Jenkin David, 


. 36 


Thomas Thomas, 


. 60 


Owen Evans, 


. 36 


John Jerman, 


. 36 


David Powell and land 


in Brandy- 


wine. 


. 36 


Gabriel Davies, . 


. 28 


John Jones, 


. 32 


Howell Powell, . 


. 14 


David James, 


. 24 


Thomas Lewis, 


. 20 


Caleb Evans, 


. 36 


Joseph Williams, 


. 16 


Hugh Wilson, 


. 16 


John Morgan and land 


in White- 


land. 


. 54 


John Samuel, 


. 10 


Edward George, . 


. 32 


Edwd. Jones, 


. 24 


Evan Evans, 


. 20 


David Evans, 


. 16 


Evan Stephens, . 


. 14 


David Thomas, 


. 15 


Joseph Jones, 


. 34 



536 



APPENDIX. — NOTE G. 



NON-EESIDENT LAND. 



Richard Cook, 




£12 10s. 


Isaac Norris, 


. 25 00s. 


Joseph Wilcocks, . . 31 10s. 
Tax £12. 185. 9d. 


SPRINGFIELD KATE. 


Samuel Levis and land 


in Goshen, 148 


Samuel Levis, Jr., 


. 49 


Richard Maris, 






89 


George Maris, 
John Maris, 






11 
11 


Geo. Maris, Jr., . 






29 


John Scholar, 






30 


Samuel Hall, 






35 


Thomas Kendal, . 






38 


John Gleave, 






18 


Isaac Taylor, 
Thomas Taylor, . 
Thomas Fell, 






41 
23 
30 


Richard Woodward, 






15 


Joseph Taylor, 
John Hall, . 






13 

18 


Joseph Yarnall, . 
George Lawrence, 
John Lea, . 






27 
79 
21 


Samuel Britain, . 






. 6 


INMATES 




John Owen. 









NON-RESIDENT LAND. 

Thomas Griffiths, 500 acres. 
Mordecai Mattock, 500 acres. 



FREEMEN. 




John Bunten. 




Thos. Britain. 




Thos. Clark. 




Thomas Bird. 




Tax £14 lis. 10c?. 




DARBY RATE. 




John Blunston, . . . • 


53 


John Wood, . . . . 


84 


Thomas Worth and land, 


70 


David Thomas, . . . . 


45 


Wm. Irish, . . 


17 


Samuel Bradshaw, . . . 


43 


Benjamin Cliff, . . 


27 


Thomas Pulford, . . . , 


27 


Abel Pearson, . . . . 


19 


John Bethel, . . . . 


21 


Job Harvey, 


64 


Obadiah Bonsall for Mills anc 




plantation, . . . . 


129 


Edmund Williams, 


37 


Richard Parker, and for lands late 




of Wm. Smith, 


97 



John Bartram, .... £45 
Lewis David, and land in Haver- 
ford, 54 

Enoch Bonsall, . . . .39 
Josiah Hibberd, . . . .67 
Joseph Need and John Davis . 107 
Wm. Smith and for land in y« 
London tract and Great Valley, 123 



Edward Smith, .... 


23 


Wm. Smith, Jr., .... 


34 


Daniel Hibberd, and for John Hal- 




lowell's plantation, . 


21 


Abraham Lewis, and land in Hav- 




erford, 


65 


Thomas Philips, .... 


35 


Adam Roads and for land, . 


80 


Thomas Lewis, .... 


40 


William Kirk, . 


33 


Samuel Hood, .... 


75 


John Thomas, .... 


27 


John Marshall, .... 


71 


Samuel Sellers, .... 


51 


Josiah Fern, . . . ' . 


61 


Thomas Paschall, house. 


41 


Thomas Bradshaw, 


45 


Anthony Morgan, 


47 


Roger Ball, . . . . 


49 


Jacob Bonsall, . . . . 


49 


John Lewis, . . . . 


18 


George Wood, . . . . 


19 


Michael Blunston, 


59 


William Wood, . . . . 


37 


Samuel Garrett, . . . . 


117 


William Garrett, 


73 


Christopher Spray, 


17 


Isaac Collier, . . . . 


16 


Lewis Sponley, . . . . 


11 


Matthias Natsalias, 


39 


David Morton, . . . . 


24 


Andrew TJrin, . . . . 


33 


Hance Boon, . . . . 


34 


John Broom, . . . . 


47 


Wm. Broom, . . . . 


30 


Andrew Swanson, 


11 


Isaac Lea, . . . . . 


9 


FREEMEN. 




Richard Sirnam. 




Joseph Kirk. 




Saml. Buntin. 




Miles Starn. 




James Bartram. 




Tax £34 1 Is. 6c?. 





RIDLEY RATE. 
John Sharpless and land, . . 88 
John Crosby, and lands in trust 
and mills and lands in Middle- 
town, . . . . .94 



APPENDIX. — NOTE G. 



537 



Isaac Taylor and his land, . £117 | 


Jonathan Haycock, 


£16 


Joseph Harvey, .... 


59 


Robert Taylor, 


28 


Andrew Morton, .... 


46 


Richard Sheldon, 


29 


Doct. Ben. Simcock and land in 




David Morris, 


29 


trust, 


43 


Mordecai Morris, . 


25 


John Tomkins, . . 


39 


John Worral, 


20 


John Ocher, ^ . 


39 


David Jones, 


10 


George Van Culin, 


42 


James Trego, ... 


11 


John Iden, 


19 


Joshua Worral, . 


19 


Hance Tonton, .... 


21 


Thomas Moor, 


. 10 


Andrew Tonton, . . 


27 


Isaac Lewis, 


18 


Magdalen Hendrickson, 


25 






Andrew Mortenson, 


48 


FREEMEN. 




Margaret Morton, 


14 


Peter Tomson. 




Catharine Henrickson, 


36 


John Pearson. 




Joseph Powell, 


25 


Tax £15 3s. 




Enoch Enochson, 


24 






Amos Nicholas, . 


9 


CHESTER RATE. 




John Wain, 




33 






Larence Friend, 




31 


David Lloyd, 


. 180 


Henry Swift, 




5 


John Salkeld and land in Sads 




Thomas Dell, 




41 


bury, .... 


. 40 


Sarah Head, 




40 


John Wright, 


. 35 


John Morton, 




18 


Jacob Howell, 


. 67 


Gabriel Friend, 




17 


John Baldwin and land in Cain, 


. 94 






John Wade, 


. 45 


NON-EESIDENT LAND. 




Jonas Sandelands, 


. 43 


Jonathan Hood, . 


130 


David Roberts, 


. 35 


Hannah Carpenter, 


250 


David Willson, 


. 21 


Joseph Stidman, . 


112 


Jeremiah Carter, , 


. 47 


William Smith, John Wood anc 




Richard Weaver, . 


. 38 


John Button for the Land Com 




Mary Baldwin, 


8 


pany, .... 


263 


Humphrey Johnson, 


. 12 


Henry Torton, 


100 


John Scarlet, 


. 33 


Jonathan Dickinson, . 


14 


Thomas Cobourn and Mills, his 






share, .... 


. 58 


FREEMEN. 




Edward Carter, . 


. 24 


George Taylor. 
Thomas Hows. 
Joseph Williams. 
Thomas Stidwell. 




Thomas Philips, . 
John Weldon, 
Jacob Roman, 
John Morrison, 
William Cobourn, 


. 15 
. 38 
. 50 
. 36 

. 12 






James Hinds, 


. 14 


TENANTS. 




Sarah Hood, 


. 38 


James Dickens. 




Isaac Norris and Chester Mills, 


. 96 


Matthias Morton. 




Samuel Gray, 


. 10 


Simon Battin. 




Michael Atkinson, 


. 20 


Tax £15 8s. 6d. 




James Barber, 


. 19 






Ebenezer Jenkin, . 


. 24 


MAEPLE RATE. 




Joshua Coupland, 


. 24 


Bartholomew Coppock and Ian 


i 


George Bush, poor. 




in Marlborough, 


. 54 


Edward Danger, . 


. 19 


Peter Worrall, 


. 33 


Wm. Taylor, 


4 


Joseph Powell, 


. 43 


James Towson, . 


2 


John and George Van Leer, 


. 38 


Wm. Weldom, 


. 24 


Joseph Rhoads, . 


. 52 


John Rimington, . 


. 35 


John Broomfield and land, . 


. 83 


Joseph Roynear, . . . 


. 24 


Mordecai Massey, 


. 48 


Joseph Townsend, 


. 20 


Enoch Pearson, . 


. 15 


Thomas Coubourn, 


. 26 


Robert Pearson, 




. 49 


Thomas Morgan, . 


. 19 



538 



APPENDIX. — NOTE G. 



Thomas Howard, 

John Baldwin, Jr., and land at 

Middletown, 
John Minhall, 
Jonathan Ogden, . 
Tobias Hendrickson, 
John Postlethwait, 
Caleb Harison, 
Thomas Logan, . 
Wm. ffishborn, 
John Yeats, . 
Samuel Bulkley, . 
James Cregor, 
George Simpson, . 
Henry Munday, . 
Evan Morgan, 
Richard Marsdon, 
Robert Barber, 
V Ruth Hoskins, and land in Pickerin 
John Low, . 
Thomas Giffin, 
John Kid, 
Richard Evans, 
Richard Fowler, . 

FREEMEN. 

John Morgan. 
Henry Baker. 
Joseph Parker. 
Thomas Cobourn. 
Erasmus Cannut. 

Tax £26 Os. bd. 

THORNBURY RATE. 

George Pearce, and his share in y« 

mill, 

Caleb Pearce, .... 

Isaac Taylor and land, 

Thomas Evason, .... 

Joseph Evason, .... 

Richard Woodward, 

John Willis, . . . . 

Jonathan Thatcher, 

Henry Naile, .... 

Mary Davies, .... 

Jonn Yearsley, and land in Wes- 

town, ..... 
Philip Taylor, .... 
Richard Evason, and land in Wes- 

town, ..... 
Wm. Pyle, and land in Kennet, . 
Joseph Branton, .... 

John Pyle, 

John Moor and son, and land in 

Nantmel, ..... 
Wm. Branton, Jr., 
Jacob Vernon, .... 
Sarah Anderson and son, 
John Taylor, .... 
John Willis, Jr., .... 



£9 

48 
9 
30 
51 
20 
47 
26 
31 
40 
30 
39 
25 
32 
47 
20 
35 
36 
20 
15 
15 
20 
15 



50 
60 
80 
30 
24 
54 
60 
54 
70 
30 

60 
60 

58 
70 
60 
60 

30 
24 
60 
12 
50 
30 



FREEMEN. 

George Bostock. 
Walter Worrilow. 

NON-RESIDENT LAND. 

Richard Marsh and John BuUow, £187 

Wm. Dostock, . . . .60 

Matthews Andrews, . . .18 

Tax £18 8s. 6d. 

EDGMOND RATE. 



(Obliterated) Worrall, . 


. 200 


Ephraim Jackson, 


. 70 


Philip Yarnall, 


. 100 


Joseph Pennel, 


. 100 


Jonathan Hunter, 


. 72 


David Register, . 


. 36 


Sam" Llewis, 


. 40 


Th« W>"Son, 


. 20 


Evan Howell, 


. 27 


Joseph Baker, 


. 40 


John Yarnal, 


. 36 


Philip Yarnal, 


. 34 


Nathan Evans, and land in 


Trey 


Dyfryn,* . 


. 25 


John Houlston, . 


. 35 


Edward Tomson, . 


. 24 


Joseph Pratt, 


. 24 


Richard Pritchard, 


. 26 


Henry Howard, . 


. 36 


James Sill, . 


. 20 


Jacob Taylor, 


. 20 


Wm. Adams, 


. 10 


Joseph Bishop, 


. 10 


John Hampton, . 


. 10 


Robert Long, 


. 20 


James Sill, . 


. 24 


NON-RESIDENT LANI 


). 


Joseph Carter, 


. 30 


Wm. Griffith, 


. 15 


FREEMEN. 




Josiah Arnold. 




Edward Grissel. 




Wm. Long. 




Tax £15 2s. 6d. 




CONCORD RATE 




Nathaniel Newlin, 


. 300 


Nicolas Pyle, 


. 80 


Benjamin Mendenhall and 


share 


in a mill, . 


. 80 


Henry Obourn, . 


. 85 


Henry Pearce, 


Nic. Newlin, 


. BO 


John Hannam, 


. 56 


Joseph Nicklin, . 


. 43 


* Valley Town. 







APPENDIX. 


— NOTE G. 






5^y 


Ben. Mendiaghall, Jr., . . £50 


Jacob Melyn, .... £40 


George Lea, 




32 


Thomas Jones, 






33 


Joseph Edwards, . 






. 65 


Peter Dix, . 






90 


Thomas Marshall, 






60 


John West, . 






10 


Peter Hatton, 






60 


John Cam, . 






30 


Wm. Clark, 






10 


Peter Taylor, 






25 


John Palmer, 






30 


Randal Croxson, , 






36 


John Palmer, Jr., 






40 


John Neal, . 






10 


Joseph Clond, 






. 20 


Daniel Calvert, 






24 


Joseph Cloud, Jr , 






46 


Wm. Hannum, 






18 


Matthias Kerl, 






30 


Charles Lynn, 




20 


Peter Kerl, . 






40 


Alexander Henderson, 




IT 


Gordon Walter, . 






30 


Joshua Calvert, . 




50 


John Newlin, 






90 


Thomas Powell, . 




26 


Nat. Newlin, Jr., . 






72 


Sam. Bond, . 




8 


Robert Chamberlin, 






60 


Thomas and Isaac Minshal 


, an( 




Robert Chamberlin, Jr. 


J 




24 


land in Goshen, 




110 


James Howerd, 






34 


John Broomel, 




28 


Obediah Johnson, 






30 


James Sharpless, . 




70 


Jonathan Sell, 






15 


Jacob Vernon, 




68 


Henry Grest, 






20 


Joseph Vernon, . 




76 


Thomas Broom, . 






36 


John Powell, 




46 


Edward Milson, . 






22 


Caleb Cowpland, . 




47 


Thomas Smith, . 






30 


Jacob SwafFord, . 




23 


John Perkins, 






12 


Henry Hastings, . 




25 


Thomas West, 






50 


John Vernon, 




15 


Ralph Pyle, 






50 


Thomas Vernon and land in Marl- 


Wm. Farr, . 






20 


borough, 190 


Ralph Bvason, 






34 




Wm. Armet, 






15 


FREEMEN. 


Thomas Downinar, 






15 


Wm. Russel. 


Thomas Hall, 






18 


Joseph SwafFord. 


Thomas Rositer, . 






15 


Lawrence Cook. 


Samuel Gilpin, . 






26 


Tax £16 85. 6d. 


David Eacho, 






10 




Humphrey Parkin, 






10 


ASTON RATE. 


Wm. Cook, . 






12 


Cobourn and land 


Francis Pullin, 






20 


in Sadsbury, . . . .100 


Thomas Cook, 






12 


Moses Key and Marlboro, 




90 


Peter Poulson, 






8 


John Dutton, 




30 


Joseph William, . 


' 




16 


Thomas Dutton, . 






55 






John Powel, 






90 


FREEMEN. 

Richard farr. 
John Hall. 
Zorobabel. 


John Carter, 
John Neel, 
Joseph Richards, . 
.John Hulforde, 






60 

100 

36 

40 


Richard Bowater. 
John Edwards. 
Robert Bennet. 


Thomas Barnard, . 
Abraham Darlington, 
Thomas Woodward, 






42 
40 
20 


Jeffrey Martin. 


James Widdows, . 






25 


Henry Grubb. 


Jos. Richards, Junr., 






27 


Thomas White. 


Wm. Rattue, 









Tax £30 2s. Qd. 


John Chamberlin, 
Moses Martin, 






30 
10 


UPPER AND LOWER PROVI- 


Isaac W™^. . 









DENCE. 


Robert Caldwell, . 






20 


Randal Malyn, . . . .15 


Tobias Homsporker, 






12 


John Edge, . . . . .* 50 


Rowland — Land, 






37 


Henry Miller, , . . .100 


John Hall — Land, 






7 


John Mendenhall, 






10 


John Munyard, Land, 






8 



540 



APPENDIX. — NOTE G. 



FREEMEN. 

Wm. Dodd. 
Thomas Martin. 
Richard Baxter. 

Tax £12 6s. 6d. 

MIDDLETOWN RATE. 
Thomas Martin, . 
Catharine Fairlamb, 
Edward Woodward and Land 

pogue, 
Joseph Jarvis, 
Win. Fennel, 
Elizabeth Cookson, 
John Edwards, 
George Smedley, Jr., 
Jacob Minshall, . 
Peter Trego, 
John Turner, 
Tho. Goodwin, Junr., 
Peter Hunter, 
Joseph Sharpless, 
Edward Lawrence, 
Adam Battin, 
Joseph Cobourn, Junr., and share 

in y'= mill, . 
Wm Blan, . 
Price Miller, 
Frederick England, 
Michael Branson, 
Sam. Baker, 
John and Tho. Cheny, 
Jos. England, 
John Hanby, 
Edward Pilinton, 
John Chapman, 
Wm. Trego, . 
John Newburry, 
Peter Trego, 

NON-RESIDENT LAND. 

Thomas Barns, 

Tax £14 3s. 6d. 



£100 
. 30 

. 80 

. 140 
. 30 
. 40 
. 53 
. 84 

. 30 
. 20 
. 33 
. 90 
. 39 
. 35 



50 
20 
10 
26 
16 
20 
15 
10 
10 
10 
14 
20 
29 
20 



15 



LOWER AND UPPER CHICHESTER 
RATE. 



Philip Roman, 
Wm. Hughes, 
Richard Bezar, 
Wm. Cleaton, 
John Fowler, 
Joseph Bond, 
John Rawson, 
Thomas Howell, 
Thomas Clayton, 
John Royley, 
Philip Pedrick, 
Robert Plumer, 
John Cloud, 



80 
46 
50 
60 
6 
30 
28 
34 
24 
10 
15 
20 
20 



John Weldon, 
John Wily, . 
Alexander Easal, 
Abel Cleaton, 
Edward Smout, 
Edward Fell, 
Hugh Loe, . 
John Bezar, . 
Hance Mitclaell, 
Nathan Wood, 
Humphrey Scarlet 
Daniel Brown, 
Roger Shelley, 
Jeremiah CoUett 
Ephraim Logue, 
Wm. Clayton, 
Frances Ruth, 
Sam"^ Cowen, 
Henry Reynolds, 
Francis Reynolds, 
Ruth Chandler, 
Matthew and Jos. Wood, 
Edward Robinson 
Thomas Linvil, ' 
John Renols, 
Edward Whitacar, 

NON-RESIDENT LAND 

Jacob Usher, 
Daniel Cloud 200, 

Tax £17 17s. 6c?. 



£12 

20 

10 

18 

30 

10 

16 

100 

4 

37 

45 

26 

40 

70 

, 35 

45 

, 36 

, 15 

, 82 

. 40 

, 20 

, 36 

, 40 

. 30 

. 35 

. 26 

, 50 
. 40 



BURMINGHAM RATE. 
William Brainton and Land 

Sadsbury, 
Nic. Fred, . 
John Bennett and for Land in 

Marlborough, , 
John Chads, 
Joseph Gilpin, 
Jacob Wright, 
Samuel Hollingsworth, 
Swithin Chandler, 
Thomas Chandler, 
Joseph Robinson, 
Robert Chalfant, . 
John Weith, 
Magness Simonson, 
Daniel Davies, 
John Bockingham, 
John Bockingham, for the estate 

of Ed"d Plechen, 
John Chandler, Jr., 
Thomas Darnel and for land in 

Cain, 
Thomas Candrey, 
Wm. Pyle, . 
Robert Hannam, . 
John Bently, 
Mary Stephenson, 



110 
100 

110 
90 
60 
65 
48 
40 
35 
40 
28 
20 
24 
40 
24 

20 
10 

24 
24 
35 
30 
10 
10 



APPENDIX. — NOTE H. 



541 



John Chalfant, 
John Day, . 
James Houston, 
Abraham Widdows, 
Sam: Painter, 
Providence Scot, 
Wm. Turner, 
Thomas Gilpin, 
Robt. Green, 
John House, 
Timothy Warde, 
Daniel Moore, 
Zabulon Cantral, 
Francis Pulin, 
Grace Stephenson for 400 of land 
in Marlboro, . . . . 



Andrew Hiden. 
Wm. Deny. 
Walter Deny. 
Charles Turner. 



£20 
12 
16 
24 
55 
20 
16 
24 
22 
15 
10 
10 
5 
10 



Thomas Thornbury. 
Joseph Willis. 

Tax £19 9s. 3d. 

BETHEL RATE. 
Robert Pyle and land in Marlbo 

rough. 
Joseph Pyle, 
Edward Pinock, 
Benjamin Moulder 
Robert Booth, 
John Hopman, 
John Pugh, . 
John Canaday, 
John Grist, . 
Wm. Ayres [Eyre 
Edward Dutton, 
Wm. Griffith, 
Jacob Norbury, 
Edward Bezar, 
Francis Farris, 
Daniel Pyle, 

Tax £7 Os. Od. 



£100 
36 
21 
15 
40 
30 
25 
24 
20 
50 
49 
30 
20 
60 
25 
50 



Note. Darby included Upper Darby, and Ridley included Tinicum in the 
assessment. 



NOTE H.— Page 204. 
LOCATION OF THE EARLY COURT HOUSES. 

The first Court of Upland County of which any record has been preserved, sat 
at the house of Neeles Laerson, which no doubt was a tavern. Its precise loca- 
tion is not known, but it doubtless occupied a position on the northern part of 
the lot marked " 2." on the old draft of Chester in the possession of Thomas Darling- 
ton, a fac simile of which is given at page 138. The southern part of that 
lot had been recently purchased by Laerson from Eusta Anderson. (See will of 
" Neels Laarson," Register's office, Philadelphia, Book A. No. 62.) From the uni- 
versal custom of the Swedes in building, it may also be concluded that the resi- 
dence of Laerson was very near the creek, and consequently in the immediate 
vicinity of the House of Defence. 

The location of the House of Defence, marked A. on the annexed draft is 
arrived at with great precision from the description contained in a deed for the 
adjacent lot, from Lydia, the widow of Robert Wade, to Edward Danger, October 
10th, 1699, (Deed Book, A. 270, Vfest Chester.) The credit of having first ascer- 
tained the location of this ancient Court House is due to Edward Armstrong, Esq., 
of Philadelphia. (See his note to the " Record of Upland Court" p. 202.) From 
the description contained in the same deed, Mr. Armstrong ingeniously and with 
some show of plausibility fixes the exact position occupied by the House of De- 
fence, which he says, " stood on the east side of, and at an angle to, the present 
Front Street, which was laid out after its erection, and the eastern line of which 
street ran through the centre of the building, from its S. E. to its N. W. corner." 
In my judgment, the evidence relied on by Mr. Armstrong does not warrant any 
very positive conclusion, as to the position of the building. 

A doubt has been suggested to me by a gentleman who has given some atten- 
tion to this subject, whether the House of Defence was ever occupied as a Court 
House. The records do not say positively that it was ; but in the absence of 
evidence of the erection of any other building for that purpose, the following 
facts will be sufficient to remove any reasonable doubt on the subject : 

1st. At the session of the Upland Court for November, 1677, an order was 



542 APPENDIX. — NOTE H. 

made directing the fitting up and finishing the House of Defence at Upland " fitt 
for the Court to sitt in against y"^ next Court." 

2nd. At the March Court, 1679, Neeles Laerson is " ordered to make or Leaue 
a lane or street from Upland Creeke to ye House of Defence or Country House" 
— the term Countiy House indicating that the building was dedicated to the uses 
of the public, and, (traveling then being nearly altogether by water,) the neces- 
sity of a lane from the water's edge to the building, shows that it was then being 
used by the people of the County. 

3rd. The expenses of the sittings of the Courts are considerably reduced after 
the order for fitting up the House of Defence ; and in making an order in respect 
to a small levy that had been previously authorized by the Court, they speak 
only of defraying "their charges of meat and lodgeing att their sitting." [Record 
of Upland Court, p. 120.] 

4th. An order issued by Governor Andros in October, 1678, in respect to 
Quit-rents, is directed to be published " and sett up at the Court houses of Up- 
land, New Castle and Whoorkill in the Delaware." (New Castle Records.) 

5th. At a Monthly Meeting of Friends held " at Chester," the 1 1th of the seventh 
month, 1682, (before the arrival of the Proprietary,) it was agreed to hold a meet- 
ing every first day of the week " at the Court house at Chester." 

This last fact is alike conclusive that there was then at Upland a building well 
known as " the Court House" which could hardly be any other than the House of 
Defence, as it is that the town had been called Chester before it authoratively re- 
ceived that name from the Proprietary. 

The second Court House was erected in 1684-5, and its location is established 
by a deed from Robert Wade and wife to Henry Hollingsworth, executed in 
October, 1695. This deed describes the lot as " directly opposite to the old 
Court House fronting the said Chester street." The location of this Court house 
is marked B on the draft. A jail was erected at the same time, but there is 
reason to believe that it was built nearer the creek, and that the street was laid 
out between the two buildings. The same deed recites that the northern line 
of the lot it describes, passes back from the street " along the south side of the 
newly erected Court House." Henry Hollingsworth, who was a Friend, was 
dealt with by the meeting the same year, -'for cutting the eves of the new 
prison." Besides this fact there is evidence in abundance that there was a prison 
as well as a Court House erected on the lot next north of the lot conveyed by 
Robert Wade and wife to Henry Hollingsworth. A Court House and prison were 
erected on that lot about the year 1694, the site of which is marked C on the 
draft. They probably occupy nearly the site of the prison erected in 1684-5. 

The deed last mentioned establishes another important fact. The lot conveyed 
by it is described as having " a passage six foot broad on the south side" extend- 
ing from the street to the creek. This passage, now built up, is marked a on the 
plot. Its location, nearly opposite the House of Defence leaves little room to doubt 
that this passage is the identical lane that Neeles Laerson was directed by the 
Upland Court to leave open. 

The next Court House, erected in 1724, still serves the purpose of a Town 
Hall for the borough of Chester. In 1725, the lot with the Court House and 
prison, marked C, was sold in pursuance of an Act of Assembly. In 16S6, there 
was an apparent sale made by the Court on behalf of the County of Chester to 
Robert Wade, of the Court House and prison built in lt>84-5, but this was pro- 
bably a mere pledge of the property to secure money that had been advanced, 
and was in the nature of a mortgage. James Sandelandes, at the same Court 
offered a piece of land to the County, on which to erect a Court House and prison, 
but this offer does not appear to have been accepted at that time, for the next 
Court House marked C, was erected on land purchased from John Hoskins, and 
in which it does not appear that James Sandelandes ever had any title. 

The records of the Court show that John Simcock had purchased the Court 
House marked B, in 1696. But this sale was made without authority of law. 
An act of Assembly was obtained, giving the necessary authority, and a sale was 
effected to the same purchaser on the 6th of the 3rd month, (May) 1702, but be- 
fore the conveyance was completed, he died. In his will, proved April 24th, 



APPENDIX. — NOTE I. 543 

1703, be devised this property to his son-in-law, Ralph Fishborn, but it required 
a second Act of Assembly to assure a perfect title to him. 

FURTHER EXPLANATION OP THE ANNEXED DRAFT. 

b. A' passage six and a half feet wide mentioned in all the conveyances of lots 

adjoining it. 

D. The site of the first Friends' Meeting-house at Chester, that passed under the 

name of "the old Assembly House." The lot purchased by the Friends in 
1688 from Urin Keen, the father-in-law of James Sandelandes, was built on 
by the Friends about the year 1693, and was sold by the Friends in 1736 
to Russell. 

c. A strip of ground bought of Jonas Sandelands by Friends in 1712 to enlarge 

their lot. Sold to Russell in 1736. 
e. Urin Keen's " lot or garden" mentioned in his conveyance to the Friends. It 

extended to the dotted line. V 

/. The lot conveyed by Robert Wade and wife to Henry Hollingsworth in 1694. 

Wade's title was from Neels Laerson in 1687. 
g. This lot was also conveyed by Laerson to Robert Wade in 1687, and by his 

widow, Lydia to, Joseph Cobourn in 1700. 
h. This lot was conveyed by the widow and sons of Neels Laerson to David 

Lloyd in 1691, and by him to Jasper Yeates in 1698. It was the site of the 

noted Granaries and Bakery erected by Yeates. It is now occupied by the 

Chester Mills. 
/. This lot was conveyed by Neels Laerson to Robert Wade in 1687, and by 

Lydia the widow of Robert Wade, to Danger as has been mentioned. 

E. The dwelling of John Hoskins, subsequently of Henry Hale Graham. It is 

now owned by John G. Dyer. 



NOTE I.— Page 226. 

FROM AN ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT BOOK IN THE POSSESSION OF 
ROBT. FRAME, ESQ., OF BIRMINGHAM, PAGE 2. 

" Whereas, that formerly a congregation of believers, baptized upon profession 
of their faith in the county of Chester in the Province of Pennsylvania about 
the year 1692, among whom Thos. Martin administered Baptism, likewise W™ 
Beekingham administered both Baptism and the Lord's Supper, until about the 
year 1701, when several occasions occurred, that our congregational estate was 
dissolved — that we could no longer bear up our Church polity; Being dispers"!, 
without the face of a church for many years. In the year 1715 upon the fre- 
quent coming of our beloved brother, Abel Morgan among us, to preach upon 
week days — Upon proposal for our associating together in church relation and 
Estate, it was concluded to have consultation about it, and finding such as were 
baptiz'i persons dispersed in the parts adjacent, very inclinable thereunto — 
notice being given to all such as were concern"^ to meet at the house of John 
Powell of Providence in the above said county, having got to our assistance. 
Brother Morgan of Philad% Bro. James James, and bro : Jos Eaton, from the 
Welsh-tract (New Castle, Del), we proceeded in the manner following: — It being 
the 14*1' (jay of the month vulgarly called June 1715, the first part of the day 
was spent in fasting and prayer, to implore the blessing and aid of God upon 
our proceedings : Having our satisfaction in each other's grace, we further sig- 
nified our resolution to join together, to carry on the worship of God and the 
ordinances of the gospel, according to the holy scriptures ; — and to further the 
edification of one another ; and to walk in the order of the gospel : Then we did 
unanymously resign up our Souls to God, by a token of lifting up our hand to 
be his people and servants ; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and then to 
one another by the will of God : declaring our uniting together in a church re- 
lation to each other to be governed by the word of God, taking upon us the title 



544 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



of a Baptized Church of Jesus Christ, holding and maintaining the same princi- 
ples and practices, as the other Baptized Churches in the Provinces of Pennsyl- 
Tania and New Jersey in America ; whereupon we were owned as a Sister church 
to the aforesaid churches, being of the same faith and Gospel order, by the 
above named Brethern." 

The names of the persons engaged in this congregational settlement was as 
follows : 



Elizabeth wife of John Powell 

Margery Martin 

Hannah wife of John Beekingham 

Hannah Hunter 

Mary Robinett 

Mary Powell 

Joan, wife of Jos. Poweir' 



" Edmund Butcher 
John Powell 
Richard Buffington 
John Beekingham 
Joseph Powell 
David Roberts 

Jeremiah Collett he being Baptized 
May 4* 1715 

On the first page of the old book from which the above was copied, the entries 
of Baptisms are commenced, of which the following are specimens : 

Baptd at Tho^ Powells 
David Price 
Elizabeth Price 



1697 

4mo 28 
gmo IQih 



in Ridley 
Creek 



lOmo 



24 



Thomas Martin 
baptized Thomas Powell 
Evan Harry, John Palmer 
Judith Calvert and 
Alice Vestall 



7mo27 


Arch* Dungworth 




Tho'' Budd 


Bap<<i 


John Wills, John Powell, 


Ridley 


David Thomas, John Han- 




num, Marjery Martin, Mar- 




jery Hannum, Mary Palmer, 




Elizabeth Powell 


gmo 12 




Ridley 


John Beekingham 


Creek 




1698 


Ann Compton 


4mo 25 


Bapd at Ridley C 


gmo 


Sami Miles Baptized in 


gth 


Ridley creek 


gmo 

30"^ 


Hannah Brunsden 



at Tho^ Powells, Ridley C. 
W™ Thomas 



1699 



3rd: 



27 



26 



27 



1699 

7mo 7^11 



gmo 29tli 



1700 

2na mo 

gth 



3rd igth 



6'"<' 25 



gmo 7th 



8n'o 30 



in Crum Creek 
Rich'! Buffington 
Elizt'i Price 
Jane Philips 



Edward Lane, C. Creek 



Edward Edwards Bap'^ 

C. Creek 



James Plumley Bap"i 



Creek 



Abram Pratt 
Jane Pratt 
Richard 



Baptized 
at Pinepac now 
Lower Dublin 
PhUa. Co. Pa. 



David Philips 
Margaret Philips 



Bap"! in 
C. creek 



Elizabeth Pavien Bap. by 
Wm. Beekingham at 
Ridley 



Mary Clark 
Elizabeth Hall 



Bap by 
Wm. Davis 
at Pinepack 



Martha DealPap ty Tho. Eutty 
Reece Price «< •• wm. Davia 



NOTE J.— Page 313. 

In pursuance of an Act of Assembly passed the 21st of September, 1782, the 
Commissioners of every county of Pennsylvania that had been invaded by the 
British, were directed to call on the Assessors, to procure and return accounts 
and estimates of the damages that had been done by the enemy since the 18th of 
April, 1775. A large proportion of the property taken was from non-comba- 
tants, and of course was taken in violation of the usages of war among civilized 
nations. The amount of this plunder was enormous, and the depredations com- 
mitted were so general, that but few persons in comfortable circumstances 
within the limits of this County escaped. The returns may be relied on for their 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



545 



accuracy, as they are made under the oaths or affirmations of the sufferers ; but 
they do not embrace a full list of those who did suffer, nor the whole amount 
taken, as a number of the Friends or Quakers refused to make any return. The 
returns were carefully recorded, and may be seen in the Commissioner's office at 
West Chester. A few individual returns will be given, in full or in part, to show 
the inhumanity of the wretches concerned in these outrages, in stripping families 
of every article of household goods they possessed, even such as could be of no 
possible use to themselves. Following these will be an abstract of the losses 
sustained in most of the townships now constituting the County of Delaware. 



■ An account of Damage, waste, spoil and destruction, which was done and com- 
mitted by the army of the king of Oreat Britain under the immediate command 
of General Howe, at the battle of Brandywine, from September 11th to the IQth, 
1777, to the property real and personal belonging to George Brinton,* of 
the township of Birmingham, viz: 



4J tons tons hay, @ £3 per ton, 

200 bushels wheat, @ 7s. Qd. per bushel, . 

35 " corn (maize,) 3s. 6c?. ' 

30 " rye, 5s., 

15 " buckwheat, 4s. 

5 acres grass fit for scythe, @ 20s. per acre, 
10 bushels barley, at 5s. . 

1 likely young mare, 
3 horses (rec^ £24, by order of Sir W^" Erskine,) 

2 bullocks, at £7 10s. each, 
7 cows, at £6 each, 

3 yearling heifers, at 40s. each, . / 
2 spring calves, at 20s. each, 
25 sheep, at 15s. each, 

6 large swine, at 455. each, 
9 smaller do. at 20s. each, . 

1 young mare, taken away and damaged, . 

2 falling axes, 10s. each, 
1 broad axe, 7s. Qd.^ and 1 augur, 4s., 

1 pair compasses, .... 

2 chisels, 2s. Qd., .... 
1 shovel, 8s., and 1 hand-saw, 15s., 
1 pair steelyards, .... 

1 gun, 1 sword, and 1 pistol, 

2 pairs sheep-shears, 3s. 2d. each, . 
1 hundred weight of cheese, 8c?. per lb., 

1 lb. blue linen yarn, 

7 handkerchiefs, 3s. each, . 

2 lb. sugar, and 1 of coffee, 7s., 1 pr. flat-irons, 12s 
1 new great coat, .... 

7 coats, at £3 10s., and 10 waistcoat, 20s., . 

8 pairs breeches, at 20s., and 3 hats, 20s., . 
1 fur cap, 22s. 6c?., and 1 pair boots, 45s., . 

1 pair spatterdashers, 

2 feather beds, bolsters and pillows, £8 each, 

9 coverlets of different sorts, 50s. each, 
6 pairs blankets, 40s., and 6 prs. sheets, 25s., 



Amount carried forward, 



£ 


5. 


d. 


13 


10 





75 








6 


2 


6 


7 


10 





3 








5 








2 


10 





30 








36 








15 








42 








6 








2 








18 


15 





13 


10 





9 








5 








1 










11 


6 




5 







5 





1 


3 





1 


10 





3 


5 







7 


6 


3 


6 


8 




5 





1 


1 







19 





4 








34 


10 





11 








3 


7 


6 


1 








16 








22 


10 





19 


10 






415 13 8 



* George Brinton resided on a farm a short distance south of Dilworth's Town — the same 
upon which the immigrant William Brinton settled, and in the house built by his son William 
in 170nl, who was the grandfather of George Brinton. The house is still standing and is a com- 
fortable dwelling. 

35 



546 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



Amount brought forward, 

4 pairs pillow-cases, 5s., 

3 chaff beds and bolsters, 16s., . . ■ 

2 pairs bedsteads, 15s., and 5 bed-cords, @ 3s. 6d. 
2 cloth cloaks, £3, and 1 calico quilt, 40s , 
1 camlet petticoat, 30s., and 1 double gown, 20s., 
6 Linsey petticoats, £2 14s., and 6 gowns, £1 16s. 
22 shirts and shifts, coarse and fine, lOs. each, 
8 aprons, at 2s. 6d. each, 
6 yards striped linen, at 5s. 6d. per yd., 

8 pairs striped trousers, at 5s., 
1 diaper table-cloth, 15s., and 5 com"'i do. 3s. each, 
6 pairs stockings, 30s., and 2 prs. gloves, lOs., 
Child's clothes, of sundry sorts, 
1 calico bag, 20s. and 2 pairs stays, £4, 
6 pairs of shoes, at 7s. 6d., and 1 heckle, Is. 6d., 

1 beaver hat, 45s., and 1 pewter pot, Is. Qd. 

2 pewter dishes, 1 basin and tankard, 

9 pewter plates, 

3 tin pans, 1 coffee pot and funnel, . 

1 looking-glass, 50s., 1 set china cups and sauc^^, 15s., 

2 tea-pots, 2 cream jugs, 14s., 3 delft bowls and 3 plates, 23s. 6d. 
9 milk-pans, and sundry earthenware, 
2 copper tea-kettles, and 1 ditto sauce-pan, 
2 large iron pots, and 2 candle-sticks, 

1 doz. knives and forks, and 1 ditto spoons, 

2 cider tubs, 3 pails, and churn, 

1 pewter bottle, 3 canisters, 8s., brass warming pan, 25s. 
1 soap-box, and double case of Razors, 

12 bags and frying-pan, £6 lOs. and a number of bott'=, 10s. Qd., 
6 bushels of dried apples, 45s., and 11 trenchers. Is. Qd., 
6 blind halters, 30s., and 1 sett of bells, £4, 

5 pairs of hames, and 5 collars, at 9s., 
5 pairs chains, with back-bands, belly-bands and cruppers. 
1 cart-saddle and breech-band, 
1 iron square and post-axe, 

Damage done to desk, book-case and case of drawers. 
1 Bible and a number of other books, 

3 chairs destroyed and others damaged, 
2821 rails at 10s. per hundred, 
762 stakes, at Qs. " "... 
Damage done to the timber, 

" Aggregate, 

'■'■November 19, 1782, Before me the Subscriber, &c., came George Brinton, who, 
on his affirmation did declare and say that the above articles were from him 
taken and destroyed — which articles are reasonably valued; which valuation 
amounts to Five hundred & forty four pounds eleven shillings and eight pence ; 
and further saith, he never received any part or value for any part or parcel 
thereof, except as within mentioned, (viz. £24 for his Horses by order of Sir W™ 
Erskine, Q. M. Geni.) 

" Signed George Beinton. 

' ' Affirmed before me 

" Isaac Taylor." 



£ s. 


d. 


415 13 


8 


1 





2 8 





2 7 


6 


5 





2 10 





4 10 





11 





I 





1 13 





2 





1 10 





2 





4 





5 





2 12 


6 


2 12 


6 


2 7 


6 


1 15 





12 





3 5 





1 17 


6 


3 





3 7 


6 


1 15 





1 10 





1 10 





1 13 





15 





7 


6 


2 12 


6 


5 10 





2 5 





7 10 





1 10 





12 





4 





3 





1 





14 2 





2 5 





3 





544 11 


8 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



54T 



"An Estimate of Damages sustained by Geo. Pierce, Esq., [0/ Aston"] by the forces 
of the king of Great Britain and their adherents under the immediate command 
of General Earl Cornwallis, on the ] 3, 14 and 15 days 0/ September, 1777, viz. : 

" Drove from my house, farm, &c., which damaged me, 

1 yoiing mare, saddle and bridle, 

2 draught horses, 

1 waggon, 

8 pair of chains, 

4 collars 8 p^ heims, 
Harness for 8 horses, 

2 ploughs burnt, irons taken away, 
2 iron shovils, spades and wheelbaro, 

1 grind stone, iron hangings, 

2 axes, 2 mattocks, maul and wedges, 

9 beef cattle, 

5 milch cows, 

3 yearling calves, 
41 sheep, 

1 large hog, . 

6 smaller do., 
Poultry not numbered, 
200 doz. of wheat at 5s., 
11 doz. rye at 4s., 
140 doz. oats at 2s. 6d., 
60 bushels of clean oats, 
20 tun of hay at £5 ^ 

2 waggon load of flax burnt, 

1 cask flower, 

A quantity of beef and backon, 
5 acres of Indian corn destr'*, 

3 acres of buckwheat destroyed. 
Apples of 2 orchards by computation, 
1^ doz. chairs burnt, 

2 bedsteads, bottoms and beds burnt or taken away, 

1 woman saddle, 

Barr furniture, bowls, glasses, &c., 
Kitchen do. pots, pans, &c., 

2 pr. steelyards. 
Fire shovels and tongs, 
600 pennel of fence burnt at I8d. "^ pennel, 
Barn destroyed, repairing cost, 
A wheel chain. 



£ 


s. 


d. 


150 








35 








40 








20 








4 


10 





2 


10 





3 


10 





5 








1 


10 





1 


10 





2 








63 








30 








6 








41 








3 








9 








3 








50 








23 








17 


10 





7 


10 





100 








9 








1 


10 





6 








10 








4 


10 





10 








4 


10 





20 








4 








6 








13 








1 


10 





2 








45 








15 








1 


5 






" Chester ss. 



in 

"Proved November 27th, 1782, before me. 

"Jno. Pearson." 



" Taken by the British army under Howe, from the I2th to the IGth of September, 1777, 

from Charles Porter of Birmingham township, ' a very poor man.'' 
1 good cow, . . . . . . . .700 

1 new shirt, 12s. &d. ; 6 doz. yarn, 2 doz. to the lb., . . 17 6 



8 7 6" 



548 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



£ 
50 



22 10 



" An Account of property taken and destroyed the llth day of September (and there- 
about) 1777, by the army of his Britanick Majesty, commanded by Sir William 
Hoive, K. B., supporter of Tyrany, Falsifier of his word, and Plunderer of pri- 
vate property, to the Estate real a7id personal of Will^ Harvey of Birmingham 
township, VIZ. : 

1 large bay mare 6 years old, .... 

Received of the paymaster £16 in part. 
1 bay horse 10 years old, ..... 

Received of Capt. Baker of 10th Regt., £9. 

1 brown mare, 12 do., . , . . . . .16 

1 soral do. 5 do., . . . . . . 20 

1 brown do. 3 do., . . . . . . 20 

1 bay horse, 9 do., . . . . . . 16 

1 brown mare, 3 do., . . . . . . 16 

1 peded cow, 1 red steer, and 2 black hefers, beef cattle, supposed 

to weigh 1400, at 35s., . . . . . 24 10 

2 milch cows, . . . . . . . 13 

1 large 2 year old steer, . . . . . .60 

2 red heifer 2 do. old, . . . . . .40 

1 spotted do. and 1 branded do., 2 years old, each at £4, , . 8 

6 yearlin cattle, . . . . . . . 18 

22 head sheep at 125., . . . . . . 13 4 

6 large hogs, w* ab* 1200, at 4|t?., , . . . . 22 10 

7 store pigs, . . . . . . .55 

1 pair wagon wheels almost new, . . . . .70 
Harness complete for 4 horses, . . . . .10 
130 bushclls of wheat, at 65. (^d, . . . . . 41 
40 do. rye, at 4s. Qd., . . . . .90 
30 do. barley, at 5s. 6d., . . . . . 8 5 
Hay, supposed to be 16 ton, at £4 "^j . . . . 64 
A quantity of flax carried to cover tents and destroyed, . . 3 

2 good bed ticks, 2 bolsters and 4 pillows, . . . .80 
2 coverlets, 8 blankets, 12 prs. sheets, . . . . 47 10 
1 sett of calico curtains and appurtenances, . . . 12 

1 large gilt looking-glass, 1 do. smaller, . . . .65 

2 sets china tea cups and saucers, ^ doz. and 8 do. bowls, and 1 

set of gilt china tea cups and saucers, . . . 7 16 

4 delf bowls, 6 queensware do., 5 tea pots, . . .20 

1 copper coffee pott 35s., 1 queensware do. 7s. 6^., . . 2 2 

6 plates queensware, 6 do. stoneware, and 2 large delf dishes, . 1 5 

4 pint glasses, 4 wine do., 1 quart decf, . . . .15 

2 copper tea kettles, . . . . . .30 

2 large pewter dishes 27s., 5 large basons 50s., . . . 3 17 

5 smaller pewter basons 37s. 6d., 1 doz. of plates 4s., . . 3 17 
J doz. knives and forks, and 1 frying pan, . . . .10 
1 large gridle, 1 large iron pott, 2 tubs and 2 pales, . . 2 2 
1 silk bonnett 16s., 1 doz. caps, 9 handk'''^, cambric and lawn, 124s., 7 
1 white silk handk'f, 1 muslin apron, 2 check do., . . . 2 12 
1 calliminco quilt, 2 iinsey petticots, and 12 pair stockings, . 6 
1 pr. calf skin shoes, 1 pair women's broad cloth do., new, . 1 4 
1 pr. new boots £3, 1 great coat, new, 90s., 1 blure bodied 40s., . '9 10 

7 good jackets of different stuffs I7s. 3c?., 13 pr. buckels 9s. Id., . 11 10 
1 new beaver hatt and case 65s., 1 do. half wore 3s., . . 4 15 
1 large spice box broke to pieces, . . . . . 2 10 
A new saddle 9s., 1 good bridle 5s. Ad., . . . . 4 15 

3 stocks of bees 45s., 1 fowling-piece broke to pieces 27s. Gd., . 3 12 
Breaking of a cupboard and drawers destroyed out of the case, . 1 

Amount carried forward, . . . 573 1 6 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



549 



Amount brought forward, 
78 pennell of post and rail fence, 
About 100 pennell worm fence, . 

Sub. cr. 

Received in part as mentioned. 



£ s. d. 

573 1 6 

9 15 0. 

5 

587 16 6 

25 





15 







8 







12 







15 





/ viz^. : 








16 







10 







5 






562 16 6 
" This acct. was affirmed to before 

" Isaac Taylor." 

" An Account of a Sacrillege committed in the Baptist Meeting-house in Tredyffrin, in 
the County of Chester^ in the State of Pennsylvania, by some of the British 
Army under Gen^ Hoive, in their march from the head of Elk to Philadelphia, 
the ISth, I9th or 20th days of September, lohen s^ Meeting-house ivas broke 
open, and tvas stole from thence the Sacramental Dishes! vizK: 

2 pewter dishes, ..... 
2 do. pints, ..... 

1 diaper table cloth, .... 

1 Bible of the English language, 

A change of Raiment for the administration of Baptism . 

2 linen shirts, ..... 
1 pair linen drawers, .... 
The lock of the chest the goods were in, . 

The Sazton's tools for Burials, viz^. : 
1 grubbing hoe 8s., 1 spade 7s. Qd., . . . . 15 6 

They destroyed and burnt on the parsonage farm ! viz^. : 
135 pennel of fence, equal to 810 rails at 4s. per hundred, . 1 12 4 



" From Israel Gilpin, among other things, 

1000 dollars in cash taken — exchange 3 to 1, 

6 large table spoons, silver. 

Set of silver buckles, 

6 silver teaspoons, . 

20 pairs new shoes, . 

18 sheets. 

Cash, 

All kinds of female apparel, gowns of different kinds, flowered 
dimity and calimico and petticoats, broad cloth cloaks, 10 
lawn caps, men's weare, 6 prs. breeches, shirts, boots, &c." 

" Articles taken or destroyed by the British Army when under command of General 
Earl Cornivallis, commanding a party of the British army at or about the time 
they attacked the Fort of Billingsport, into xvhich neighbourhood they had been 
removed for safety, the property of John Morton, Esq., dec^, of the township 
of Ridley. 

1 broad cloth coat, . 
1 padusway jacket, . 
1 black broad cloth coat and jacket, 
1 suit brown do. with silver buttons, 
1 jack coat and breeches, knit pattern. 

With many other articles of clothing (male and female) and house 
furniture. The whole amounting to £365 lis. Oc?." 





6 8 10 


Attested by 


" James Davis Elder." 


125 00 




7 4 




4 




10 7 




10 




36 




22 



10 14 





5 





15 8 


6 


37 5 


2 


6 17 


6 



550 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



SUMMARY STATEMENTS OF THE DAMAGES SUSTAINED BY THE 
INHABITANTS OF THE SEVERAL TOWNSHIPS NOW EMBRACED 
IN DELAWARE COUNTY. 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 

From John Crosby, Sept. 13, 

" the late David Oowpland, 

" Benjamin Bartholomew, " stolen by the British army under 
Gen. Howe, 

" Alexander Mills, by Mr. Johnson, Comissary of the British 
army commanded by Count Dunop and Col. Starlen, Dec 
13, 1776, . 

" Sarah Days, furniture destroyed by the British, when in 
Philadelphia, 1777-8, 

" Estate of James Mathers, by a party of Scotch and Hessians 
when marching from Wilmington to Philadelphia, Oct 
and Nov. ...... 

" Edward Vernon, by a party of Scotch and Hessians, when 
marching from Wilmington to Philadelphia, Oct. and Nov, 

" Sarah Thomas, robbery by Scotch and Hessians when march- 
ing from Wilmington to Philadelphia, Oct. and Nov, 

" Wm Evans, team pressed, 

" George Spear, saddle, 

" Wm. Kerlin, harness, . 

" Thomas Logan, sundries, 

" Elisha Price, cart, 

" Henry Myers, cow, 

" Thomas Pedrick, horse, 

" James Beatty, sundries, 

" John Odenheimer, 2 horses, 

" Raper Hoskins, sundries, 

" Mary Withy, do. 

" Robert Ferguson, 

" Capt. Stork's Estate, . 

" Valentine Weaver's Estate, 

" Mary Norris' Estate, . 

" Martin Carter, 

" John Powell, . 

" Widow Deacon's Estate, 

" John Hogan, . 

" Joseph Neidy, by British under Cornwallis, 

" Ann Davis do. do. 

" Henry Hale Graham, do. 

" Zedekiah H. Graham, do. 

" Adam Grubb, do. 



CHICHESTER. 
From William Hoskins, by the British under Cornwallis, Sept. 13, 

ASTON TOWNSHIP. 
From James McClaskey, by the British under Cornwallis, Sept, 
13 and 14, . 
" John Noblit, by the British under Cornwallis, Sept. 16, 
" James Pennell, ..... 

" George Pierce, Esq., Sept. 13, 14 and 15, 
" Samuel Witherow, ..... 
" Robert Rankin, Sept. 13 and 14, . 



£ s. a. 

1 17 6 

72 

43 



1796 4 

20 

62 6 

33 5 

22 13 

3 15 

6 

6 10 

13 

6 

7 10 
20 
37 
80 

155 

35 

6 
17 

120 

7 10 



1 15 

20 

6 

15 

27 

5 

25 

20 

51 12 6 



2742 12 


6 


, 87 17 


6 


t. 

95 7 

4 

. 186 7 

. 771 15 

. 165 

22 12. 


6 

9 


6 



1245 2 9 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



551 



BIRMINGHAM. 

From William Dilworth, by the British army under Sir Wm. Howe, 
(and damages,) while encamped, at Dilworthstown, after 
the battle of Brandywine, Sept. 11 to 16, 

" Charles Dilworth, " property taken, damage, wa^te, spoil and 
destruction, done and committed by the army of the King 
of Great Britain, and their adherents, under the imme- 
diate command of Sir Wm. Howe,* Sept. 11 to 16," 

" Joseph Dilworth, ditto, .... 

" Charles Porter, " a very poor man," ditto, 

" William Chapman, ditto, .... 

" John Martin, September 12 to 16, . 

" William Harvey, Jr., " taken and destroyed the 11th day of 
Sept. (and there about) by the army of his Brittanic Ma- 
jesty, commanded by Sir Wm. Howe, K.B. Supporter of 
Tyranny, Falsifier of his word, and plunderer of private 
property," . 

" John Bennett, September 11 to 16, 

" George Brinton, ditto, 

" Rachel Hannings, ditto, 

" Caleb Brinton,! ditto, 

" Israel Gilpin, ditto, 

" Thomas Hannum, Sept. 11, . 

" John Henderson,- Sept. 11 to 16, 

" John Chamberlain, Sept. 13 to 16, 

" Gideon Gilpin, Sept. 11, 

" Jesse Graves, Sept. 11 to 16, . 

" Thomas Davis, ditto, 

" James Dilworth ditto, 

" Charles McCrea, Sept. 11 to 17, 



48 2 



. 820 


15 


3 


. 522 


12 


2 


8 


7 


6 


. 16 


3 


3 


. 242 


4 


6 



562 16 6 

401 1 4 

544 11 8 

47 12 6 

592 18 8 

607 12 6 

42 2 

536 6 11 

57 3 

502 6 

212 14 8 

24 5 7 

13 

41 13 4 









5844 6 


n 


THORNBURY. 




From George Brinton, Sept. 11 to 16, , . . . 51711 


5 


" Sampson Davis, Sept. 11, 






. 115 18 


8 


" William Arment, do. 






42 





" William Louden, do. 






19 12 





" Catharine Davis, do. 






34 3 


6 


" Isaac Davis, do. 






58 12 


6 




787 18 


1 


CONCORD. 




From Alexander Vincent, Sept. 13, . . . . 90 17 


6 


" William Hannum, 






329 10 





" James Hatton, . . 






6 





" Amos Mendenhall, 






10 





" Alexander Lockhart, . . ' . 






183 





" Thomas M'Call, 






3 7 


6 


" Samuel Mendenhall, .... 






4 





" " Same person. Concord," 






61 14 





" James Taylor (by Knyphauson's party,) 






34 10 





" William Pierce, September, . 






75 15 





" William McCoy, Sept. 13, . 






16 


6 


" Patrick Gamble, Sept. 15, . 






146 15 






961 9 6 

* Among the items charged, is "the time of a Servant Lad, Patrick Kelly, about 14 months to 
stay, went off with the army, £10. 
t Including "two Books, Barclay's Apology, and Young Man's Best Companion." 



552 APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 

MARPLE. 

From William Burns, Sr., September 19, . 

" Daniel Cameron, ...... 

" Joseph Burns, taken by the adherents of the King of Great 
Britain, September and December, 



£ 


s. 


d. 


36 








51 


16 


6 


129 


5 


5 



217 1 11 



NEWTOWN. 

From Samuel Caley, by the Queen's Light Dragoons, Col. Harriot, 

Sept. 19, . ., . . . . . 31 

" David Thomas, by the Light Horse, on their return from an 

attack upon Capt. Lee, in East-town, . . . 27 3 3 

" William Faris, by the British army, under Cornwallis, on his 

route through Haverford, . . . . 28 



86 3 3 



RIDLEY. 

From John Morton's* estate, " taken and destroyed by a part of the 
British army, under Cornwallis, at or about the time they 
attacked the Fort of Billingsport, into which neighbor- 
hood the articles were removed for safety. Certified by 
Ann Morton, BxeC^." " Taken soon after the capture." . 365 li 2 

" John Price, " taken by Lewin Turner, master of an armed 

boat from New York, in March, 1781," . . . 67 19 5 

" Israel Longacre, " by some persons who said they belonged 
to the shipping in the Delaware, then under the command 
of Lord Howe. October or November," . . . 8 5 

" John Vactor, taken by " a party of the enemy from the water 

commander, not known, in the fall of 1777, . . 56 8 

" Lewis Trimble, " by two British sergeants, under General 
Howe." Oct. 25, . 

" Robert Crozier, Deer. 25, . 



EDGMONT TOWNSHIP. 

From John Worrall, Sept. 15, 
" Thomas Frame, 
" Thomas Evans, 
" Jonathan Hunter, 
'•' Wm. Dunwoody, Sept 
" William McFee, by J. 

adherents of the King of Great Britain 
" Mordecai Massey, 



17, 

Fitzpatrick (alias Fitz or Fitch), and 



135 








6 


14 


3 


639 


17 


10 


35 








.7 








' 7 


10 





119 


10 





. 88 


6 





200 








47 


10 






504 16 



RADNOR. 



From Daniel Evans, " by a detachment of the British army, under 

Cornwallis, then ravaging the neighborhood. Deer. 11," . 25 4 6 

" Sarah Davis, widow, " by the British army on their march 

to Philadelphia," . . . . . . 40 3 9 

". Owen Skelton, Sept. 19, . . . . . 30 



Amount carried forward, . . . . 95 8 3 

* Jolin Morton was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, — representing Pennsylvania 
(from Chester county) in the Congress of 1776. 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



553 



Amount brought forward, .... 

From John Jones, Sept. 19 and Deer. 11, . 

" Michael Stadleman's estate, .... 

" Sarah Miles, " then a minor," 

" Isaac Thomas, ..... 

" Lewis Lewis, Sept. 19, ... . 

" Wm. Jennings, ..... 

" John Pugh, ...... 

" Mordecai Morgan, " by a party of British under Col. Har 

court, Sept. 19," ..... 
" George White, "by a party of British under Col. Harcourt 

Sept. 19," ...... 

" Aquila Evans, " by a party of British under Col. Harcourt 

Sept. 19," ...... 

" Mark Evans, by Cornwallis, Dec. 11, 

" David Phillips, by Col. Harcourt, Sept. 19 

" Edward Lane, by General Howe, 

" Adam Siter, by Col. Harcourt, 

" Enos Miles, do. 

" William Lee, do. 

" Levi Lewis, do. 

" Sarah Kenny, by the British Army, when marching from 

Valley Forge to Philadelphia, September, 
" Frederick Bettle, Sept. 19, . 
" David Cornog, by Howe, Sept., 
" Isaac Davis, by Cornwallis, Dec. 11, . 
" Paul Sheridan, by Harcourt, Sept., . 
" Griffith James, by Cornwallis, Dec. 11, 
" Jonas Yocum, do. do. 

" Samuel Pugh and Mord. Morgan, by Harcourt, Sept. 19 



HAVERFORD.* 

From Martin Wise, by Cornwallis, ..... 
" Jacob Charles, by Cornwallis, Dec. 12, 

" Samuel McClure, "by the British army under Cornwallis 
and their adherents, when they made a sally out of Phi- 
ladelphia, December 11," . 
" Philip Moore, do. 

" Thomas Cornog, do. 

do. Dec. 10, 
do. Dec. 12, 
do. do. 



Mordecai Morris, 

Nicholas Pechin,| 

Samuel Johnston, 

Christian Peterman, Dec. 11 and 12, 

Elizabeth Davis, widow, Dec. 11 and 12, 

Griffith Davis, 

James Davis, . . . 

Ann Davis, 

Amount carried forward. 



£ s. 

95 8 
305 2 

55 3 

13 
185 10 

60 

18 
122 11 



45 



50 



20 

10 15 

30 

8 15 

30 

45 

50 

60 



38 

23 7 

18 

49 

9 5 

55 16 

66 15 6 

35 



1499 


9 





35 


13 





135 


10 





13 


4 


6 


41 


17 


6 


344 





3 


27 


3 


6 


285 


6 


6 


67 


11 





95 


17 


9 


166 


9 


9 


34 


19 





25 


5 





26 


10 






1299 7 9 



* In the records of Haverford Monthly Meeting, there is an estimate of losses sustained by 
Triends not returned to the Assessors. The depredations were all committed by a detachment of 
the British army, who made a sally from Philadelphia on the 10th, 11th and 12th days of Decem- 
ber, 1777. The following is a summary of the amounts taken, viz. : 

From Isaac Davis, ......... 

Abraham Liddon, ......... 

Abraham Liddon and Isaac Bartram, ...... 

£381 11 
t At the foot of a long list of articles taken from him, Mr. Pectin added — " In a word, a num- 
ber of things too tedious to mention ; as not even a spoon left to eat my victuals, nor a comb to 
comb my hair; bonds, notes, and other accounts, writings, &c., &c." 



£ s. 


d. 


284 10 


2 


47 14 


9 


48 16 






554 



APPENDIX. — NOTE J. 



Amount carried forward, 
From Elizabeth Davis, Jr., . 

" James Lloyd, (Cornwallis' sally,) 

" Elizabeth Lloyd, do. 

" John Scott, . 

" William Batt, 

" Jacob Humphreys, 

" Philip Sheaff, by a detachment of Light Dragoons under the 

command of Col. Harcourt, Sept. 19 
" John Lindsay, (Cornwallis,) Dec. 12, 
" William Brooks, (Cornwallis,) Dec. 11, 



DARBY. 

From Joseph Rudolph, " by the British army while they lay in 
Darby, foraging. December," 
Benjamin Brannan, do. 
Jesse Bonsall, 

John Sellers, by the Hessians, 
Johathan Evans, (Cornwallis,) Deer., 



Evan Evans, do. 

Nicholas McOurdy, do. 

Samuel Lewis, 

Samuel Leedom, 

Andrew Boon, Jr., 

John Gruber, . 

John Humphreys, 

Isaac Kirk, 

John Pollin, (Cornwallis,) 

Henry Hayes, . 

William Garrett, 

Alexander Morrow, 

Samuel Smith, 

Benjamin Elliot, 

Daniel Rice, . 

Wm. Morrow, 

Andrew Boon, December 25, 

Joseph Boon, . 

William Lewis, December 12 

Andrew Urian, 

Hans Boon, a helpless man, 



do. 
do. 



to 13, 



RECAPITULATION OF THE WHOLE COUNTY. 



£ 

1299 

20 

10 

11 

6 

2 

1 

38 
134 
210 



Chester, taken from 31 persons, 



Chichester, 




1 


Aston, 




6 


Birmingham, 




20 


Thornbury, 




6 


Concord, 




12 


Marple, 




3 


Newtown, 




3 


Ridley, 




6 


Edgmont, 




1 


Haverford, 




22 


Darby, 




26 


Radnor, 




29 



1733 


1 


3 


61 


11 


8 


41 


7 


6 


197 


10 


6 


20 








23 


17 





13 








15 


1 





28 








24 








40 


12 





53 


7 





29 


17 


6 


34 


14 


6 


18 


17 


10 


140 


15 





47 








13 


12 


6 


55 


15 


9 


167 


12 


6 


58 


8 





67 


15 





69 








98 


16 





43 


10 





34 


1 


6 


77 


15 


5 


1475 


18 


2 


2742 12 € 




87 17 € 




1245 


2 9 




5844 


6 7A 


787 18 1 




961 


9 6 




217 


1 11 




86 


3 3 




639 17 10 




504 16 




1733 


1 3 




1475 18 2 




1499 


9 





17825 14 4^ 



APPENDIX. — NOTE K. 555 

NOTE K.— Page 199. 
" Conveyance, Swan Swanson and others to David LloydP 

"This Indenture made the Twenty Eighth day of December One Thousand Six 
Hundred Ninety & Three & in the fifth year of the reign of W™ & Mary King & 
Queen over England & Between Swan Swanson, Andrew Bankson, Lassy Cock, 
Otto Earnest Cock, Casper Fish, Peter Rambo jun''. Church Wardens of the 
Sweeds Congregation att Wiccacoe of the one part And David Lloyd of the 
County of Chester in the Province of Pennsilvania gent, of the other part Witt- 
nesseth that y« s<^ Church Wardens for and in behalfe of themselves and their 
successors in the said office & in the behalfe & by the consent of the said Con- 
gregation att Wiccacoe aiB»also in the behalfe and by the consent of the Sweeds 
Congregation att Cranehook for and in Consideration of five shillings of Lawful! 
Monie of Pennsilvania to them in hand paid by the said David Lloyd the receit 
whereof they doe hereby acknowledge hath bargained & sold and by these prnts 
doth bargain & sell unto the sd David Lloyd the full and just proportion and 
Quantitie of Seven acres of Land & meadow Scituate Lying and being in the 
said County of Chester Together with the rents and profitts of the s'^ seven acres 
of Land & Meadow be it more or Lesse, to have and to hold the s'^ seven acres 
of Land & Meadow herein mentioned and Intended to be bargained & sold with 
their & everie of their appurtenances unto the sd David Lloyd his heirs & assigns 
from the day next before the day of the date hereof for during & unto the full 
end & Term of one whole year from thence next ensuing & fully to be Compleated 
& ended, yielding and paying therefore for and during the s"^ term unto y^ s"^ 
Church wardens & their s<^ successors in the s<^ oflSce the rent of one Ear of In- 
dian Corn only att or upon the Last day of the sd terme if the same be Lawfully 
Demanded to the intent that by virtue of these prnts & of the statute for Trans- 
ferring uses Into possession the s* David Lloyd may be in the actuall possession 
of all and singular the premises & be enabled to accept of a grant, Release, Con- 
firmation & Conveyance thereof and of the reversions & Inheritance thereof & of 
everie part thereof to him and his heirs In Wittness whereof the s'^ partees to 
these prnts have to these prn't Indentures Interchangeably Sett their hands & 
Sealls the day and year first above written. Sealed & Delivered in the Pre- 
sence of: The Wotds (be it more or Less) Interlined in 15th line before Sealling 
hereof; Swan tx! Swanson his mark . . . Seal Otto Earnest Cock . . . Seal Lasse 
Cock . . . Seal Andrew Bankson . . . Seal Peter M Rambo his mark, Junior . . . 
Seal Casper Fisck . . . Seall 

" Recorded 30th of December 1693." 

" Letter from Crane hook to Swan Stvanson." 
" Loving friends Our most kind and loving Respect Remembered unto you, there 
is word Sent to us & our congregation here below that belongeth to Cranehook 
that is from you Loving friend above how that you would sell the Lot att Up- 
land which formerly the paestor did Live upon which Lott part belongs to us 
and part belongs to you & withall understand how that you would alsoe have 
our Congregation's Consent for the selling of the afores'^ Lott soe, wee, now in 
in the behalf of our Congregation at Cranehook doe freely Consent thereunto, 
for the Selling of the afores"! Lott provided & with that condition, that wee may 
alsoe Receive the halfe part of money what the aforesaid Lott shall be sould for, 
hoping that you will use your best and true advantage herein & so wee shall 
remain your Loving friends. Written at Cranehook the Twelfth of Nov^'' 1693 
The marke of Hendrick HE Everton, The mark of Andrew AA Anderson, Gisebert 
GW Walleaven, Pavell g Mink, Charles Springer." 
"Recorded 25th of xber 1693." 

David Lloyd also exacted from the grantors a sort of indemnifying bond, 
dated the 29th day of December, 1693, in which they " for themselves their said 
successors in y^ said office in behalf of ye s"^ Congregation and of their minister 
or ministers prn't or to come and in their private capacities, also do covenant 



556 APPENDIX. — NOTE M. 

promise and grant for themselves and their heirs respectively y* they & everie of 
them, y** s'^ seven acres of land & meadow & premises hereby granted, to him 
the said David Lloyd & his heirs & successors forever, & ag^* their s'' minister or 
ministers prn't or to come & their successors and assigns & ag^* all other y 
Sweeds, Dutch, finns & others the old Residents & all other Inhabitants of the 
s<i Province of Pennsylvania & County of Newcastle, Jerseys, Maryland & other 
parts of America & elcewhere, having or pretending to have society or church 
fellowship with y^ s'l Sweedes Congregation & against all others claiming by 
from or under y™ or any of y™, or hj * * * their or any of their heirs & their 
successors * * -^ means privitie consent or procurement, as also against all 
all other Incumbrances, seizures & forfeitures whatsoever shall & will warrant 
& forever defend by these presents * * *^ * *."| 

NOTE L— Page 273. 

" Chester County, ss. Att a Special Court held and kept at Chester, for the 
County of Chester, in the Province of Pennsylvania, the 2d day of March, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four. Before John 
Hannum and John Morton, Esqs., two of his Majesty's Justices of the peace within 
the county aforesaid, particularly commissionated according to the form and 
effect of an act of General Assembly of the said Province, entitled "An act for 
the tryal of Negroes," with the assistance of Jonas Preston, Elisha Price, David 
Cowpland, John Salkeld, George Grantham and William Swaffer, six of the most 
substantial freeholders of the neighbourhood, duly and legally summoned, re- 
turned, sworn and aflBrmed, well and truly to give their assistance and judgment 
on the tryal of all such negroe or negroes as shall be charged or accused before 
them of committing any Murder, Manslaughter, Buggery, Burglary, Rapes, at- 
tempts of rapes, or any other high or heinous offence committed, acted, or done 

WITHIN THE SAID COUNTY. 



The King 
vs. 
Negro Phebe, the 
Slave of Joseph 
Richardson. 



Witnesses. "] 

Thomas Barnard, . <v. j 

/^, • ^ 1 T^• r Amrmed. 

Christopher Dingee, 

Joseph Dutton, J 

Archibald Dick, sworn. 



On an information exhibited by Benjamin 
Chew, Esq., Attorney-General of our Lord 
the King, for Feloniously and Burglarily 
breaking and entering the mansion house of 
Thomas Barnard, and stealing thereout divers 
goods and chattels the property of the said 
Thomas Barnard. The defendant being now 
arraigned, pleads non cul et de hoc, &c. 
Attorney-General, similiter, &c. And now, 
on hearing the proofs in this case, it is con- 
sidered and adjudged by this court that the 
said defendant, Negro Phebe, is guilty of the Felony and Burglary aforesaid, in 
manner and form, &c. ; and thereupon, it is further considered and adjudged by 
this court, that the said defendant, Negro Phebe, be led to the prison from 
whence she came, and from thence to the place of execution, and there be 
hanged by the neck till she be dead." 

NOTE M.— Page 395. 

The following poetic tribute to the Grange, the most ancient and rurally beau- 
tiful country seat in Delaware County, was composed by Dr. Charles Caldwell, 
about the year 1798. 

"GRANGE." 

" Remote from walks where noise and revels reign, 
And fierce ambition fires the plirensied brain, 
Where jarring mortals clash in venal strife, 
And thorn-clad cares embitter transient life, 
Where woe-fraught Health declines her languid head, 
And hearses hlack-roh'd bear the thronging dead ; 

t Surveyor Gen. Office, Harrisburg, "Record Book F., No. 6, p. 46, &c." 



APPENDIX. — NOTE M. 557 



Remote from Town with, all its clamorous train 
Its veteran vices, wiles and galling pain, 
Grange lies— luxuriant in fair rural scenes, 
Gay plumy groves, bright lawns, and velvet greens, 
Proud forests humming to the hollow gale, 
And craggy steeps dark frowning o'er the vale, 
Alternate shadowy walks, and sunny hills, 
Soft warbling choirs, and sweetly gurgling rills. 
With such romantic form has Nature crown'd, 
And rob'd in rural pride this hallow'd ground. 
Hail to thy works of Art, delightful spot ! 
The splendid dome, the rich, prolific lot ! 
The gardens wafting wide their sweet perfume. 
And soft-enchanting with their Eden-bloom, 
Their sloping grades adorn 'd with fairest flowers, 
Embroider'd walks, gay clumps and pansied bowers ; 
With arborets green, in scandent garlands twin'd, 
Of woodbines fair and clasping jasmines join'd. 
— There sportive Echo from her hollow cell 
Shrill mimic numbers pours along the dell. 
There moss-clad grotto's, founts and cool alcoves, 
Invite soft graces and the whispering loves. 
Pomona there in full profusion pours 
Th' Autumnal bounties of her golden stores, 
And jovial Bacchus, tlush'd with youth and wine, 
In teeming clusters clothes the' empurpled vine. 

But chief my warm'd, my grateful muse would hail 
•Yon mazy walk which overlooks the vale. 
Which skirts in graceful curves, the rural steep, 
Where jasmines twine and sadden'd willows weep. 
Where flowers adorn, where shrubs perfume the way 
And nodding poplars check the blaze of day 
With yonder plant ; of Lombardy the pride. 
Which points its spiry plume, and drinks th' effulgent tide. 
! would the Muses aid my sylvan song. 
This walk should glide iu deathless lays along ! 

Where, to the North, the steep romantic rears 
His grove-capt crest, the growth of numerous years, 
Deep at his base slow slides the lucid stream. 
While from its bosom bounds the golden beam. 
Beneath, the finny race in gambols play, 
Keen sport in sinuous trains and dash the limpid spray. 

Pleas'd as I peusive chant this sacred ground. 
And from the groves and hills and rocks around. 
In sportive mood, from her responsive tongue, 
Sweet Echo pours th' expiring tones along, 
Yon crescent-seat allures my steps aside. 
To rest reclin'd, and view the checker'd tide, 
Of such as wing the air, or cleave the flood, 
Kange the wide plain, or haunt the vocal wood. 

Light pois'd aloft, behold the stock-doves fair, 
In frolic rounds, flit thro' the midway air. 
Now swift descending, now exultant rise. 
Now sweep the glebe, now cleave the topmost skies. 

In such lone haunts fair science loves to stray. 
To scan the glories of the stellar way. 
Revolve in pfying thought the kenless deep, 
Where nature's mystic sons in myriads sleep. 
In mellow 'd mood to court the tuneful Nine 
To pour enwrapt o'er Darwin's matchless line. 
Admire the labors of the bearded sage, 
Or, thoughtful, trace the wild historic page. 
Thro' chemic mazes search the trackless way. 
And enter Nature's fane with Lavoisier. 

Be varied blessings thine, sweet rural Grange ! 
Peace, Health and Plenty round thy borders range! 
May earliest Zephyrs fan thy wreathy bowers, 
Press on thy groves, and kiss thy opening flowers ! 
May summer suns avert their fiercer beam, * 

And play, innocuous, on thy glassy stream. 
May golden Autumn spread her rich repast, 
Nor mar thy pleasures with her sickening blast ! 
And winter from his ice-roof d cell prepare. 
More rural treasures for the opening year !" 

" Caelos.' 



558 



APPENDIX. — NOTE N. 



NOTE N.— Page 441. 
STATISTICS OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

AGRICULTURE. 



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Nether Providence, 
Upper Providence, 
RIedia Borough, 
Middletown, . 
Aston, . 
Edgmont, 
Thornbury, . 
Bethel, . 

Lower Chichester, 
Upper Chichester, 
Springfield, . 
Upper Darby, 
Marple, . 
Newtown, 
Haverford, 
Radnor, 
Birmingham, . 
Concord, 

Chester Township, 
Chester Borough, 
Ridley, . 
Darby Township, 
Tinicum, 
Darby Borough, 



APPENDIX. — NOTE N. 



559 



AGRICULTURE CONTINUED. 






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bOtCbOtOtOl-'l-' I— 'l-'l— 'tsS ^1—' 

ja oTcooi— 'h^^^-cxicDowi— '>f:.ooooo-joo-a-oi>;^ oto 
o "oj "o "cT 1» ~C3 "ui "oi 1j5 '►--' "^ "^ ~co "co ~f(^ Ix; Iji "co ~i^ "^ "w 
Oim^TOoaicoootociOitoowcnwcooiooootJOOiOJOi 

OOOiOOaiOTObOOiOOiOiOOiOOOiOiOTOOCDOT 



Indian Corn, 
bushels of. 



Olt^i— CO tCCDCDtOCOOiOiOOOOto^Oii— '1— l-'.O I— ' m CD 

CnrfxbOC5CJIOOtO|^C3CX)-JCJlG10JCX)C30C:!iQOC£100-7l— '-J 
OCTCUtOO-JCXlOOOOCJ>tf^CJtOOOCDI-'Ls3WCOOtO-T 



Oats, bushels of. 



or to I— 

-T >f^ 1^ 00 

C5 o to CO 



S u^ Wool, lbs. of. 



cni-'COCOl— 'OCOWOCJ^-7CD_^-'CO^<^_tO_^-'^(^to_03J32 J*'^^ 
~t>o1o w~^ O3~to~i>."o~^"cji"^ coc20:i0joocx;"i^"oioococ;now 
ococoOhf^wcocjitc-^toc3tooocjxciijtocjiOJcn-T-Tto 

CJ^OOOOOiCJiCSTCJil— 'OlOtnCOOCJi-q-rf^CXJl— 'CJiOOOJll^ 



Irish Potatoes, 
bushels of. 



(f:^ to W to to 

-J 1— ' C' CO o 
O O 00 o o 



Barley, bush. of. 



J-Ji— ' r-'tO bO^HJI— 'I— 'tOj-' 

ooco"co~ci ~rf^OC5'co"tO~rf^~tolo~C5 

Oi— 'tOt-O h^-CJitP^l— 'iO^^COOCnOlUT 

OOC'CT CJltOCJlOCJiCDCJtOCOOO 



I— • 00 rf^ O I— ' -^ CJi 
CO tf^ -J I— ' to o o 

o to w -<r o to o 



Value of Orchard 
Products, in 
dolls. 



05 I—' to H-' to to 

to~rf:^ 'cn'oo CD~t-'~o'o 
Oi-'COWCJilt-COC3lJ^ 
OTCJiOic:ncJT00CnCDto 



o to W Ol O O CJi 



Value of Produce 
of Market Gar- 
dens, in dolls. 



CJitOCitOhf^COCitOCJi-q-tO^OO-JCiCOtOOOOOtOtOCUhf^l-' 

co-j-jootf^-:ri— ooooocjiooh^^totocnoooostocoto-^ 

CJ'CJ'OCJiCJll— i|-»OC0050CJlCn-J"OCKCJXOOtfi-OOOtO 



I Butter, lbs. of. 



CDOlOOtni— '1— COtOM^-JtOOi-Jl— '-TCn03if^>(^i— '00 -JCO 

hf^tOtOCiOiCDh-'-JtOCj5tOtOCOCOCnCJ»0-J03COCDCiCDtO 

torf^cc-TOtOhf^toooootootocotototocoi— 'tOH- toooo 



Hay, tons of. 



to Ci hi^ to 



Clover Seed, 
bushels of. 



ctj CD to m tt^ I— Grass Seeds, 
o o cjx -J en CO to bushels of. 



C0CD00>^Cn00-q-o05t0G0i— '-q-^-Okf^i— 'rf^OitOK-'0>f^-<r 
ooocotootooocotnit^oooo^oooctooocjicrtcntoi-' 
tJioouitototototowtoi— 'Oo-jco-Jc;^CDrf^tototoa)CD 



Value of Animals 
slaughtered, in 
dolls. 



560 



APPENDIX. — NOTE N. 



STATISTICS 

Extracted from the Census returns of Delaioare County, for the year ending June 1st, 
1860, exhibiting the quantity of Cotton, and Cotton and Woolen Goods and Paper 
manufactured in the County during that year, the Value of the Goods manufac- 
tured, and the Capital invested by the manufacturers. 

Fabrics made wholly of cotton, .... 20,297,303 yards. 

<' " wholly of wool, or of cotton and wool, . . 10,906,342 " 



Yarns of all kinds, 
Paper of all kinds, 
Value of the manufactured 

1st, 1860, 
Capital invested. 



goods for the year ending June 



31,203,645 
1,751,800 lbs. 
1,582 tons. 

$4,084,830 
2,851,750 



RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 
Extracted from the Census taken in 1860. 



NAMES OF THE DIFFERENT SECTS. 


bo 

So 
o 

o 

u . 

a. 2 


Number of persons the 
Churches or Meeting- 
houses of each denomi- 
nation will seat. 


1^ 

■So . 

^^■^ 

o n.s 

•^z a 

3 <c o 
■3^ rt 


Fiiends or Quakers, 
Methodist, 
Baptist, . . . 
Roman Catholic, . 
Protestant Episcopal, 
Presbyterian, 
New Jerusalem, 
Bible Christian, 
Universalist, . 
African Methodist, . 






16 
16 

7 
5 
7 
7 
2 
2 
1 
4 

67 


5,280 

4,360 

2,225 

1,980 

2,325 

2,630 

450 

550 

300 

525 

20,625 


$45,000 

38,500 

23,470 

31,300 

48,500 

35,000 

8,500 

1,000 

4,000 

2,200 

$237,570 





LIBRARIES OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 

Friends Library of Springfield, 1000 volumes. Religious and Miscellaneous. 

Chester Library Company, 2,000 volumes. Miscellaneous (Instituted 1767.) 

William Penn Library Association, (Chester,) 400 volumes, Miscellaneous. 

Protestant Episcopal Church Library, (Chester,) 600 volumes, Miscellaneous 
and Religious. 

Concord Library, 750 volumes. Miscellaneous. 

Friends Library, Radnor, 500 volumes. Religious and Miscellaneous. 

Villa Nova, 300 volumes. Religious and Miscellaneous. 

Delaware County Institute of Science, 1,000 volumes. Scientific and Miscel- 
laneous. 

Union Library Company, 1,400 volumes, Miscellaneous. 

Darby Library Company, 2,300 volumes. Miscellaneous. 

' Haverford College Library, 3,200 volumes. Literary, Scientific and Miscel- 
laneous. 

Haverford Loganian Library, 1,200 volumes. Literary, Scientific and Miscel- 
laneous. 



APPENDIX. — NOTE N. 561 

In addition to the libraries contained in the foregoing list, which, for the most 
part are used by the public to a greater or less extent, there are many private 
libraries in the County. The works in several of these have been selected with 
great care, and some of them contain from one to three thousand volumes. 

Darby Library was established in 1743. The following interesting matter 
connected with its establishment, omitted in the proper place, has been recently 
supplied by a friend, and will be inserted here. 

The original article of agreement was signed upon the 10th day of March, in 
the year of our Lord 1743, by the following persons, viz.: Joseph Bonsall, John 
Davis, James Hunt, John Sketchley, George Wood, Joshua Thomson, Samuel 
Bunting, Nathan Gibson, Benjamin Lobb, Enoch Elliot, Jonathan Paschall, Abra- 
ham Jonason, Isaac Pearson, John Hunt, Joseph Hunt, Abraham Marshall, John 
Pearson, Richard Lloyd, David Gibson, Joseph Levis, Benjamin Hayes, Thomas 
Pennel, Henry Lewis, Charles Crossley, John Lewis, Thomas Pearson, William 
Home, Joseph Lee and Peter Elliot; and Joseph Bonsall was elected Secretary, 
Nathan Gibson, Treasurer, and John Pearson, Librarian. It was also " Ordered, 
that the Secretary, Treasurer and Librarian, transmit y« several sums of money 
subscribed by this Company to Europe as soon as conveniently may, and pur- 
chase therewith such books as is heretofore voted for, if the money be sufficient, 
for y** use of the Library Company." An adjournment then took place to the 
14th day of May, 1743, at the house of John Pearson, Librarian. At this meet- 
ing no business appears to have been transacted, except to receive the resignation 
of Joseph Hunt, and to elect David Lewellyn, Jr., a member in his stead; after 
which the Company adjourned, to meet again at the same place upon the 8th 
day of October in the same year. The next meeting seems to have been more 
important, as " the Treasurer acquainted them that he, with y" advice and con- 
sent of the Secretary and Librarian, had purchased a bill of exchange of Rebicca 
Edgel, drawn on Larance Williams, of London, merchant, payable in thirty days 
after sight to Peter Collinson, of London, gentleman;" and "the Secretary ac- 
quainted the Company that, in pursuance of the aforesaid bill of exchange and 
y^ directions of this Company, he had wrote a letter to y<= s'^ Peter Collinson, a 
copy whereof he produced and read in the following words," viz.: 

"Darby, y^ 14th of 4th Month, 1743. 
"Friend Peter Collinson: 

"There is a small number of us in Darby, near Phil'^'i, who have formed our- 
selves into a company, in order to purchase a small set of books for our use ; 
with well-grounded expectations of our number increasing in a little time, and 
being advised by our fr'^ and neighbour, John Bartram, to apply to thee to pur- 
chase the s*! books, and in confidence of thy good disposition and from y« 
character he gives of thee to encourage such a decision, have thought fit there- 
upon to send to and desire thee to do such an office of kindness for us ; but as 
our number is but small, so is the sum of money, amounting only to fourteen 
pounds, as p"" bill of exchange, drawn by Rebicca Edgel on Larance Williams, 
merchant, payable to thee in thirty days after sight thereof. We also send here- 
with a catalogue of such books as our Company approved of, requesting thee 
to be so good as to buy so many of them [taking them in order as they stand on 
the list] as the money will extend to pay, reserving sufficient to satisfy thee for 
thy trouble with the cost of Insurance here. And when the books are pur- 
chased, please to ship them of p"" the first opportunity for Phil^'^., in such a manner 
and with such directions as appears to thee most convenient, either for John 
Bartram or the subscriber hereof. Be so good also as to get the books lettered 
on y<= back, if that can be done without much trouble or cost, or as many of 
them as conveniently can be. We also desire thee to send the price of each book 
purchased, that being necessary for us to know in pursuance of our agreement. 
Thy answering our requests will m.uch oblige us, who, with due respect, are thy 
unfeigned friends. Signed in behalf of said Company, 

"By Joseph Bonsall, Secretary." 

In compliance with the requests so courteously conveyed in this friendly letter, 

36 



562 APPENDIX. — NOTE N. 

Peter Collinson purchased and forwarded to the Secretary a case of books, a list 
of which is annexed, viz.: 

"The Gentleman Instructed; Puffendorf's Law of Nature and Nations ; The 
Spectator, 8 vol. ; The Turkish Spy, 8 vol. ; Tournefort's Voyages, 2 vol. ; Whit- 
son's Theory ; Addison's Travels ; Barclay's Apology ; Locke on Education ; Reli- 
gion of Nature Delineated ; Gorden Geography ; Grammar ; Sherlock on Death ; 
Whitson's Astr". Principles ; Mondrall's Travels ; Dyches' Dictionary ; TuU's 
Husbandry ; Blackmoore on y'= Creation ; Independent Whig, 3 vol. ; Wood's In- 
stitute on y'^ Laws of England; Milton's Paradise Lost and Regained, 2 vol.; 
Puffendorf's Hist, of Sweden ; Rawligh's Hist, of y^ World, 2 vol. ; The Life of the 
Duke of Marlborough, 2 vol." 

When the books were received, the Secretary called a special meeting of the 
Company to examine them ; and thus began, nearly one hundred and twenty 
years ago, this library, which has gradually and steadily increased to the present 
time. It was the first in the colony outside of Philadelphia, and when we con- 
sider the condition of the country at that early day — the scarcity of money — the 
delay and difficulty in obtaining books from the other side of the Atlantic, it 
must be admitted that this effort to establish a permanent institution for the 
intellectual improvement of themselves and their posterity was in the highest 
degree creditable to its founders. 

They continued to receive their supply of books directly from London until 
about the year 1*760, when they were furnished for a considerable period by 
David Hall, a bookseller in Philadelphia. In many cases the desired works could 
not be found in the city, and were procured in England by him for the Company. 



ADDEIDA 



[On page 147, a promise was made to give a further account of the Chester 
Mills, and the disasters which befel that early improvement. At the proper place 
in the narrative, the fulfillment of this promise was inadvertently omitted. To 
supply this omission, some extracts will be here inserted, from a conveyance 
executed in 1705 by Samuel Carpenter to Caleb Pusey of his interest in the 
property. This document contains the only correct account of these early erected 
mills, that has come under the notice of the author.] 

After reciting the verbal partnership and the number of shares held by each 
partner as given on page 147, the record proceeds: "And it was further agreed 
that the said Caleb Pusey should be agent and Manager of said joynt concern. 
And the said Caleb Pusey, soon after the proprietary's first arrival in this Pro- 
vince obtained two warrants from him for taking up land to set the said mills 
upon, The one dated ********************* containing in 
all Twenty acres, Upon or near which he the soid Caleb, with the advice of the 
said Proprietary and such other of the said partners as then were in this Pi'O- 
vince in the year of our Lord 1683, did at the joynt charge of all the said Part- 
ners Erect a corn mill upon the said creek near his new dwelling house, which 
mill with the dam belonging to it were soon carried away by the flood. And 
the said Caleb Pusey afterwards, by the advice of the said Proprietary and other 
partners that were here, did upon the said joynt account, build another corn 
niill and sawmill upon part of the said twenty acres of land and made a dam 
over said creek a little above where the first mill stood. But the flood carried 
away that dam. Whereupon^ the said partners consideiing the violence of the 
said creek in times of land floods, found it most advisable to take the water out 
of the creek about a mile above the said mills. And for that purpose the said 
Caleb Pusey of one Thomas Brassey, a slip of land about four perches in breadth 
adjoining upon the said creek did purchase containing about two acres, when 
he digged and made a mill race or water course down to the said mills ; and 
whereas the said Richard Townsend [one of the partners,] assigned or relin- 
quished all his said four parts or shares of and in the said mills and premises, 
unto the said Caleb Pusey. And whereas the charges of making said water 
course and necessary repairs of said mills did far surmount the earnings and 
profits thereof, so that the said partners became indebted to one Robert Turner 
in sundry sums of money w<''^ their said agent from time to time borrowed and 
received of him upon their joynt account, but all the said Partners except the 
said Proprietary and Caleb Pusey refusing or neglecting to pay their parts thereof, 
he the said Robert sued them for the sume of £319 18s. 1\d. current money of 
Pennsylvania in the County Court held for the said County of Chester the 14''^ 
day of June, A. D. 1692, whereupon he recovered the said debt with costs of 
suit and afterwards took out a writ of execution directed to the then Coroner* 
of the said County, commanding ********************* And 
the said Coroner having exposed the premises to sale and finding no buyers, 
afterwards to witt, the 13* day of September in the said year 1692, pursuant to 
the laws of this Province, in such case made and provided, did Bargain Sell and 

* Caleb Pusey was at this time Sheriff of Chester Couaty. 



564 ADDENDA. 

deliver to the said Eobert Turner, To hold to him his heirs and Assigns forever 
All those twenty-tvro shares and proporcons of the said Corn and Saw-mills and 
implements thereof, and tvrenty-tvro shares of the said twenty acres of land in 
full satisfaction of said debt of 319£ 18S 7JD and of 11£ lOS 3D charges. The 
The said Coroner having returned the said Caleb Pusey and Company the sum 
of £46 13s l^d being the overplus of what the twenty-two shares of the said 
mills and premises amounted to according to the said appraisment, as by the 
records * * *" 

[Robert Turner conveyed his twenty-two shares of the property to Samuel 
Carpenter in 1692, and the mills having been rebuilt in a substantial manner, on 
Caleb Pusey's land, he executed a release of the proper proportions thereof to 
Samuel Carpenter and William Penn. The deed from which the above extract 
was taken, conveys the twenty-two shares of Samuel Carpenter to Caleb Pusey, 
the consideration being £1000. Between 1692 and 1705, the ownership of the 
mills was in Samuel Carpenter, William Penn and Caleb Pusey.] 



[Accompanying Roggeveen's Dutch Map of New Netherland, a fac simile of a 
part of which faces page 18, is a description of the country in French. The fol- 
lowing is a translation of that description, so far as it relates to the Delaware 
River and Bay.] 

" The west Cape of the South river of New Netherland (or the New Low Coun- 
tries) is called Cape Hinlope and the East — Cape May ; the name of which takes 
its origin from Cornelius Jacob May, who was an experienced pilot on this coast 
in the service of the West India Company, who raised a pillar to his memory in 
the year 1623. 

" OP THE South River. 

" This River at the mouth near this Cape (May) is tolerably large and spacious 
but interspersed with many shoals and sand banks such as to make the entrance near 
Cape Hinloope, between the West Bank and the Bank of Brandywine, and when 
thus made there is a great depth named the Hoere Kille. The entrance to this 
river is very deep, the least is five fathoms till it begins to pass by the Island of 
Hammen where it is not less than four fathoms, and at the corner, where is the 
point of Collacke, there extends a sand bank across the river, where one finds it 
five fathoms, and then it is found deeper after having passed the Island of Reden. 
As soon as you pass this Island you also pass two little Ports or Castles, one of 
which is named (that to the larboard) Fort Casimires, and that to the starboard 
Fort Elsenbourg ; adjoining the Castle, one sees issue a creek or canal, called 
Varcken's Kill, which is followed by another called Maratikus kill. The river 
in this place as far as Christina is at least four fathoms deep. This country is 
called Lapland, where the river is three fathoms deep which depth continues as 
far as it is navigable to the country of the Saiino. 

" Opposite to Matymecough, lie two little Isles, which are supported by a bank 
of sand as far as Gottenburgh, then its course passes close to the Castle of 
Nassau ; but if you would approach it near Gottenburgh about the Schuyl-kil, 
I do not know how to give you better advice. The properties and approaches 
are known well enough, when you enter the river, being the same as they are so 
naturally portrayed on the map you see, with all its shoals and depths. 

" There has fallen into my hands many maps describing this River, but I have 
found them all vary — not one agreeing with another, but when I saw the demon- 
stration of this figure, which so distinctly displays all its properties and ap- 
proaches, I then proposed to myself to make you a participator, hoping it will 
serve you as an easy and safe Pilot." 



INDEX. 



[The Biographical Notices being arranged in alphabetical order, this Index will 
refer exclusively to the other parts of the work.] 



A. 

Affirmation Act, money paid for the 
confirmation of the, by the Crown, 
221, 235, 236; another, passed by 
Parliament, 223. 

Aharommuny, location of the island of 
57. 

Alarm, false, created by GoYernor 
Evans, 214; caused by an un- 
founded rumor of an Indian insur- 
rection, 168. 

Alrichs, Jacob, Director of New Am- 
stel, 72 ; unpopularity and death 
of, 76. . 

Ames or Amos Land, block-house to 
confine a madman, to be erected 
in, 116; early surveys of land in, 
522, 523; notice of, 389. 

Anderson, Capt. Patrick, letter to Dr. 
Franklin from, 294. 

Andrieson, Peter, resists the order of 
the Dutch to remove, 78. 

Andros, Sir Edmund, appointed Go- 
vernor, 100; visit to the Delaware, 
101; special court held at New 
Castle by, 102 ; letter to the Jus- 
tices of Upland Court from, 105. 

Arbitrators, earliest notice of, 107. 

Armstrong, General, erroneous opi- 
nion of, 305 ; position of, at the 
Battle of Brandywine, 305. 

Army, destitute condition of the Ame- 
rican, 319; winter quarters of the, 
at the Valley Forge, 328 ; occupa- 
tion of Philadelphia by the British, 
328 ; grain to be threshed for the 
American, 329 ; damage and waste 
committed by the British, 544 to 
554. 

AscHOM, Charles, complaints against, 
as Deputy Surveyor, 155. 

Assault and Battery, trial for in Up- 
land Court, 110. 



Assembly, first meeting of the, 139; 
proceedings of the, 140; where 
the sittings of the, were held, 142 ; 
second meeting of the, 146 ; list of 
members of the, 524; resignation 
of the Quaker members of the, 265 ; 
disputes between the Governor and 
the, 265; appointment of Deputies 
to Congress by the, 280: list of 
members of the, from Delaware 
County, 528. 

Assessment, general, of all the coun- 
ties, 189 ; of historical interest, 
190. 

Assessors, appointment of, 201. 

Associators, organization of military, 
257 ; Regiment of, in Chester Coun- 
ty, 258 ; object of the, misrepre- 
sented, 284; Independence disa- 
vowed by the, 284 ; quantity of 
powder to be reported by the, 284 
perfect organization of the, 287 
cartridges delivered to the, 290 
convention of the, 293. 

Aston, notice of, 400. 

Astrology, young men dealt with by 
Friends for practicing, 192, 193. 

Atlee, Colonel, battalion of, to be 
quartered in Philadelphia, 291 ; 
notice of his command, 292. 

Attestation, form of, for Jurors pre- 
scribed by Wm. Penn, 143. 

Attorneys, not allowed to plead, 110; 
first appearance of on behalf of the 
Crown, 160 ; compensation of the 
King's, 254; general, 255. 

Augusta Frigate, blowing up of the, 
321. 

B. 

Baltimore, Lord, obtained his jjatent 
for Maryland, 15 ; his conference 
at Upland with Governor Markham, 



566 



INDEX. 



129 , messengers sent to Upland 
by, 136 ; principles adopted for set- 
tlement of boundary agreed upon 
with, 244. 

Bank, of Delaware County established, 
352. 

Baptists, organization of seventh-day, 
221 ; first regular organization of, 
225, 543, 

Barley, to be received for taxes, 113. 

Barony, order of William Penn to lay 
out the Welsh Tract as a, 164 ; the 
validity of the grant of a, advocated 
by Thomas Lloyd, 172 ; the idea of 
a, yielded by the Welsh, 173. 

Beavers, number of skins exported, 10; 
decline of the Dutch trade in, 25 ; 
used as currency, 89 ; standard 
value of and export duty on, 89. 

Beekman, William, appointed Vice- 
Director on the Delaware, 74. 

Besh, John Amundson, grant of land 
to, 58, 519; commission of and 
object of his appointment, 59, 61 ; 
probable revocation of grant to, 83. 

Bethel, road laid out to Chichester 
from, 159 ; hamlet of, presented by 
the Grand Jury, 179; derivation of 
the name' of, 382; notice of the 
township of, 382. 

Beyers Rheede, Fort, erected, 49; lo- 
cation of, 50 ; Swedes build in 
front of, 51. 

BiLLiNGSPQRT, fort ercctcd at, 291 ; fort 
at captured and abandoned, 317 ; 
British ships at, 319. 

Bio&RAPHY, of the early settlers and 
eminent men of Delaware County, 
422. 

Birds, of Delaware County, catalogue 
of, by John Cassin, 435. 

Birmingham, settlements extended to, 
158; Friends' Meeting established 
at, 227; fair held at, 225; battle 
at meeting-house, 311 ; notice of, 
401. 

Blackwell, John, appointed Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, 169 ; reprimands his 
council, 171 ; removal from office, 
179. 

Blanks, Juriabn, vessel of, ordered off 
by the Swedes, 41. 

Blankets, how to be procured for the 
soldiers, 297, 298, 319. 

Block, Adrian, his ship burned. 3 ; con- 
structs a neAv vessel, 3. 

Block BuDSB, at Upland, 117; at Wi- 
cacco, occupied as a church, 115 ; 
to be b nil t at Amesland for a lunatic 
116; on Tinicura mentioned, 146. 



Blue Bell, capture of Americans at 
the, 324. 

Bogart, Jost Db, position of, on the 
Delaware, 26. 

BoNSALL, William, inhuman murder of, 
355. 

Books, pernicious, presented by the 
Grand Jury, 193. 

Boon's Dam, breastwork erected on, 
322. 

Boston, contribution for building a 
Friends' meeting-house at, 218; 
subscription for relief of suffering 
people at 282. 

Botany, catalogue of plants growing in 
Delaware County, 417. 

Boundary, the King's letter respecting 
Maryland, 129; between Philadel- 
phia and Chester Counties esta- 
blished by the Council, 154; the 
last named confirmed, 171 ; of the 
Welsh tract, 165; temporary, be- 
tween Chester and New Castle 
Counties established, 187 ; the cir- 
cular, run, 206 ; the circular con- 
firmed, 222 ; disputes about the 
circular, 236 ; order of the King 
for the settlement of the Maryland, 
247 ; agreement about the Mary- 
land, 247. 

Bowater, John, a meeting-house to be 
erected for the meeting held at his 
house, 202. 

Bradford, organized as a township, 
213 ; Friends' Monthly Meeting for, 
estalalished, 246. 

Brandywine, road laid out to upper 
settlements on the, 210; Baptist 
Church of, established, 226, 543; 
Indian claim to land on the, 237 ; 
rates of fare established at Chadd's 
Ford on the, 246 ; ferry on the, 254 ; 
fishery regulated in the, 274 ; posi- 
tion taken by Washington on the, 
305 ; battle of, 306-313 ; retreat of 
the American Army from the, 308 ; 
incidents of the battle of, 311 ; Act 
of Assembly for making a canal 
along the, 346. 

Brannan, Benjamin, instructs persons 
in the art of making saltpetre, 288. 

Breakwater, stone sent from Delaware 
County to the, rejected, 359 ; report 
on the quality of the stone sent to 
the, 359. 

Breastworks, thrown up on the Dela- 
ware, 285. 

Bridges, order of the court for the erec- 
tion of a horse bridge, 159 ; Chester 
presented for not erecting a foot 



INDEX. 



567 



bridge, 161 ; repair of the, ordered 
by the court, 168 ; to be a county 
charge, 216; to be erected over 
Crum and Ridley Creeks, 226. 

Bridle Road, to be laid out from Mar- 
cus Hook to Chester, 190. 

British Army, naarch of the, to Ken- 
net, 305 ; movements of the, at the 
Battle of Brandy wine, 307 ; en- 
campment in Aston of the, 313 ; 
depredations committed by the, 
313, 545 ; enters Philadelphia, 316 ; 
foraging party from the, 330. 

British Fleet, enters the Delaware, 
301 ; goes out to sea, 302 ; returns 
to the Delaware, 317 ; passes up to 
Philadelphia, 325. 

Brooke, Capt. William, narrow escape 
of, from capture hj the British, 
325. 

BuRD Asylum, notice of the, 386. 

Burying Ground, site of the, at Tini- 
cum, 44 ; Friends', established at 
Chester, 148 ; Friends', established 
at Haverford, Merion and Schuyl- 
kill, 149 ; Friends', established at 
Chichester, 158; purchase of San- 
dy Bank, 179 ; early notice of one 
at Chester, 211 ; grave-stones to be 
removed from Friends'^ 215. 

C. 

Calcon Hook, taxable persons residing 
in, 113; attached to Darby town- 
ship, 161 ; notice of, 389. 

Caln, Friends' Meeting settled at, 226 ; 
meeting-house erected at, 238. 

Calendar, Act for the correction of the, 
261 ; action of the Yearly Meeting 
of Friends on the new, 261. 

Campanius, Rev. John, accompanies 
Gov. Printz to New Sweden, 30 ; 
his account of the Swedish set- 
tlers, 32 ; is visited by the Indians, 
and translates Luther's Catechism 
into their language, 44 ; conse- 
crated a church at Tinicum, 44 ; 
his religious instruction to the In- 
dians, 45 ; his description of j^laces 
in New Sweden, 54 ; returns to his 
native country, 54. 

Cantwell, Edmund, appointed Sheriff 
and Collector of quit-rents on the 
Delaware, 96 ; appointed Surveyor, 
101. 

Oarr, Sir Robert, a royal commissioner 
in the expedition against the Dutch, 
87 ; rapacious conduct aud cupid- 
ity of, on the Delaware, 88 ; his 
conduct disapproved, 89. 



Cartlidge, John and Edmund, wrong- 
fully accused of causing the death 
of an Indian, 231. 

Cartlidge, Edmund, Sen., tombstone 
of, 385. 

Carolus, Rev. Laurentius, is successor 
to Campanius as Swedish priest, 
54; elopement of his wife, 80; is 
divorced and married himself, 81 ; 
persecution of, 81 ; suspected of 
being implicated in the insurrec- 
tion of the Long Finn, 92. 

Casimir, Fort, erection of, protested 
against by Gov. Printz, 57 ; the 
erection of a Fort below, recom- 
mended, 61 ; captured by the 
Swedes, 61 ; name of, changed, 63 ; 
recaptured by the Dutch, 66. 

Cattle, introduction of, on the Dela- 
ware, 17, 33 ; marks and brands of, 
recorded, 151 ; great loss of, for 
want of provender, 190 ; to be 
driven from the Delaware on the 
approach of the enemy, 295 ; per- 
sons appointed to drive the, 300. 

Cedar Swamp, ancient, on Tinicum 
Island, 413. 

Chadd's Ford, ferry established at, 246 ; 
ferry at, proves not to be remune- 
rative, 255 ; fiat rebuilt for, 276 ; 
breastwork erected near, 308 ; 
Gen. Knyphausen crosses at, 308. 

Charity, large amount contributed by 
the early Quakers for purposes of, 
254. 

Charles II., King, grant from, to Wil- 
lia;m Penn, 125 ; death of, 154. 

Charleston, relief contributed by 
Friends to sufferers by a great fire 
at, 254. ■ 

Chester, meeting to be held in the 
Court-house at, 137 ; name of Up- 
land changed to, 139 ; first Assem- 
bly meet at, 139 ; Indian name 
of, 145, 381 ; burial place for 
Friends established at, 148 ; meet- 
ing-house for Friends proposed to 
be built at, 166; street and land- 
ing place laid out at, 167, 174 ; 
first Friends' meeting-house erect- 
ed at, 188; early trade of, 191 ; 
mills erected, 146 ; street between 
David Lloyd's ground and the 
Green laid out in, 178 ; yellow 
fever supposed to have prevailed 
at, 200 ; landing of William Penn 
at, 200 ; privilege confirmed of 
holding fairs and markets at, 203 ; 
petition for making the town of, a 
free port, 221 ; draw-bridge re- 



568 



INDEX. 



paired at, 255 : public pound at, 
232; propositiou to remove the 
seat of government to, 239 ; a se- 
cond Friends' meeting-house erect- 
ed at, 245 ; troops quartered at, 
289 ; land force stationed at, 290; 
militia to encamp near, 297; coun- 
ty records removed from, 300 ; no 
shelter at for more troops, 302 : 
more troops ordered to, 303 ; Gen. 
Armstrong commands the militia 
at, 303 ; Gen. Washington retreats 
to, 309 ; British in possession of, 
313 ; Cornwallis marches to, 324 ; 
derivation of the name of, 377 ; 
notice of, 377 ; ancient buildings 
at, 378 ; town-hall of, 379 ; news- 
papers published at, 379, 380. See 
Court and Court-houses. 

Chester County, established, 139 ; first 
court held for, 143 ; first appoint- 
ment of Justices for, 143 ; seal 
adopted for, 146 ; boundary be- 
tween Philadelphia and, 154 ; mis- 
take in running boundary line of, 
] 55 ; members of Council from, 
155 . Haverford and Radnor refuse 
to recognize the authorities of, 158; 
ground purchased for the use of, 
204 ; Treasurer of, serves gratis, 
254 ; whips bought and repaired 
for the service of, 205 ; wagons 
furnished to the army by, 268, 298, 
303 ; delegates to Congress from, 
292; delegates to the State Con- 
vention, 293 ; all the stockings and 
blankets in, to be bought for the 
soldiers, 295 ; account to be taken 
of provisions in, 301 ; division of, 
344 ; remarks on division of, 346. 

Chester Creek, petition for a bridge 
over, at Chester rejected by Coun- 
cil, 196 ; petition for a road from 
the King's road to the ferry over, 
200 ; act passed authorizing a 
bridge over, at Chester, 212 ; In- 
dian name of, 381 : description of, 
403. 

Chbvaux-de-frize, placed in the De- 
laware, 285 ; more to be sunk, 287 ; 
additional tiers to be sunk at Bil- 
lingsport, 292 ; a portion of the, 
removed by the enemy, 319. 

Cheyney, Thomas, conveys correct in- 
telligence to Washington at the 
Battle of Brandywine, 307. 

Chichester, name of Marcus Hook 
changed to, 136 ; Friends' Meeting 
held at, 137; Monthly Meeting es- 
tablished at, 149; bounds of ex- 



tended, 158; Friends' graveyard 
established and Meeting erected 
in township of, 158; fairs to be 
held at, 203. 

Christina, Fort, erected, 22 ; W. I. 
Company advised of the erection 
of, 23 ; town laid out adjoining, 
63; besieged and captured by the 
Dutch, 66 : Gov. Rysingh refuses 
the restoration of, 67 ; name of 
changed, 72. 

Christina, Queen, abdicates the throne 
of Sweden, 65. 

Church, at Christina, 34 ; at Tinicum, 
44; atWicacco, 15, 102; land of 
the, taken in by Neels Laerson, 120; 
at Tinicum damaged by the Dutch, 
66 ; at Tinicum and Wicacco, or- 
dered by the court to be repaired, 
122 ; of St. Paul erected, 208, 532 ; 
St. Martins, 207 ; lands of the 
Swedes at Chester, 199, 211, 555: 
first mission of the Catholic, 241. 

Churches, early organized, 202, 226, 
398, 532, 543 ; receive aid from a 
lottery, 272. 

Circular Line, the running of the, 206; 
confirmed by the Assembly, 222 ; 
confirmatory act rejected by the 
King and Council, 229; renewed 
controversy about the, 236 ; angry 
disputes about the, 244. 

City Colony, of Amsterdam establish- 
ed, 72 ; territorial limits enlarged, 
77, 80, 84. 

Clerk, of Upland Court, 107 ; of Ches- 
ter Court, 131, 146 ; of the crown 
employed, 254. 

Clifton, 387 ; Clifton Hall, 387, 393. 

Climate, important tables exhibiting 
that of Delaware County, 440. 

Clock-weights, leaden, taken for mili- 
tary purposes, 291. 

Cobb's Creek, Indian name of, 38 ; ori- 
gin of the modern name, 203. 

CoBOURN, Thomas, erects a mill above 
Chester mills, 162; disregards the 
the mandate of the Commissioners 
of Property, 162. 

Coin, countei-feiting of, a common of- 
fence, 182 ; punishment for expo- 
sing bad, 201 ; kinds of, in use, 
235 ; value of, fixed by law, 251. 

Coleman, Henry, charged with sedi- 
tion, 92. 

Collectors of tax, early appointment 
of, 151. 

CoLVE, Anthony, appointed Governor 
General, 99. 

Commassungh, or Finland described, 55. 



INDEX. 



569 



Commissioners, to lay out a city, arri- 
val of, 132 ; to examine Upland as 
a site for a city, 133. 

Concord, township of, organized, 144; 
complaint of Friends against the 
Indians, 155 ; first Friends' meet- 
ing held at, 158 ; Friends' meeting 
house erected at, 195 ; meeting- 
house of, used as a military hospi- 
tal, 313 ; notice of, 382 ; St. John's 
Church in, 383. 

CONCORDTILLE, 384. 

CoNESTo&o, road to, partly confirmed, 
231 ; survey of road, 233. 

Congress, representatives from Chester 
County in 280, 292 ; first meeting 
of, 280; second meeting of, 285; 
appropriation by, for the defence 
of the Delaware, 291. 

Constables, early appointments of, 110, 
144; reports of, 156; first to at- 
tend court, 217 ; the Welsh, refuse 
toappear at the Chester Court, 173. 

Constitution, new, adopted, 200. 

Continental money, great depreciation 
of 332, 333, 336, 339. 

Correspondence, revolutionary com- 
mittee of, 280, 281. 

Corsen, Arent. his alleged purchase 
at the Schuylkill, 17. 

Council, members and acts of Gov. 
Markham's, 129, 133; sittings of 
Markham's, where held, 50 ; newly 
elected members of, 200 ; of state 
established, 206. 

Counties, three established by William 
Penn, 139 : an act of union with 
the three lower, 141 ; separation 
from the province of the three 
lower, 182; relative progress made 
in the several, in improvement, 
189; legislative separation with 
the three lower. 209. 

Country, custom of the, 186. 

Court, messenger asked for,' 72; of assi- 
zes, how composed, 90 ; established 
by Gov. Lovelace, 90; special, held 
atNew Castle, 102; of Upland, levies 
atax, 112, 119 ; Justices of Upland, 
commissioned, 105 ; earlier than 
Upland, held, 107 ; character and 
jurisdiction of Upland, 105, 125, 
128 ; names and residences of the 
Justices of Upland, 123; mutila- 
tion of the record of Upland, 127 ; 
first under the administration of 
Gov. Markham, 131; larceny trial 
In, 135 ; first held for Chester 
County, 143 ; Gov. Penn presides 
at, 143; the monthly, 157; pun- 



ishment inflicted by the, 157 ; sen- 
tence for abuse of the, 157 ; of 
equity, held at Chester, 160 ; leg- 
islation by the, 183; singular 
reports made to the, 1 84 ; levy 
ordered by the, 184; Provincial, 
held at Chester, 197, 199, 214; 
sentences of the, 212. 

Court-house, House of defence fitted 
up for a, 114; Friends' meetings 
appointed to be held in the, 137 ; 
order of the court in respect to the, 
156; apparent sale of the, 156; 
sale of the old, to John Sim- 
cock, 194 ; deed acknowledged for 
the, 196; to be repaired, 200; an- 
other sale of, authorized, 204; old 
one to be pulled down, 212; ne- 
cessity of a new one presented, 
206 ; old one repaired, 207 ; title 
of the, confirmed to Ralph Fish- 
bourn, 214; the last erected at 
Chester, 234 ; public records to be 
removed to the, 234 ; act for the 
removal of the, 336 ; a second re- 
moval act, 340 ; walls of a new 
one erected at the Turk's Head, 
341 ; threatened demolition of the 
new, by the anti-removalists, 341 ; 
another removal act passed, 342 ; 
remarks on early erected court- 
houses, 541. 

Crane Hook, church erected at, 90. 

Creeks, Minquas, early named, 40 ; 
Christina, named by Minuit, 21. 

Crime, higher offences, where tried, 152 ; 
new modes of punishment for, in- 
troduced, 173; increase in the 
higher grades of, 179, improper 
punishment of, 186. 

Criminals, sent to New Sweden, 37, 58. 

Cruise, John, an impostor who came 
among Friends, 243. 

Currency, sewant (wampum) used as , 
a, 53 ; beavers continued to be 
used as a, 89 ; remarks on the, 
108 ; see "Paper money," 

D. 

Darby, early settlement of, 147; ear- 
liest Friends' meeting at, 148 ; first 
meeting-house built at, 166 ; Cal- 
con Hook united with the town- 
ship of, 161; mill erected at, 191; 
town of, secured against damage 
by fire, 203 ; stocks built at, 242 ; 
militia rendezvous at, 304 ; Ame- 
rican army march through, 310, 
324 ; notice of, 384 ; spelling of 



570 



INDEX. 



the name justified, 384 ; early 
town meetings of, 188, 384; town- 
ship of, divided, 385 ; library, 561. 
Darby Creek, guard boats to \a,j in, 
293 ; fort near the mouth of, 299 ; 
fort at, to be garrisoned, 304. 
Debtor, an insolvent, asks that his 
creditors may accept his servitude, 
237. 
Deeds, acknowledgment of, in open 

court, 146. 
Delaware, bay discovered by Hudson, 
2 ; never seen by Lord Delaware, 
2 ; visited by Capt. Argall, 3 ; 
names applied to the, 3 ; Capt. 
Mey visits and names the capes of 
the, 4; reported exploration of the, 
by Capt. Hendrickson, in the 
yacht Restless, 4 ; first appear- 
ance of European females on the, 
9 ; patroonships to be established 
on the, 11 ; first colony planted on 
the, 12 ; disaster to the first colo- 
nists, 14; whales in the, 15, 16; 
Swedish expedition to the, 20 ; 
first permanent settlement on the, 
21 ; military survey of the lands 
bordering the, 299 ; Roggeveen's 
description of the, 564. 

Delaware County, act for the estab- 
lishment of, 344; old public build- 
ings purchased for the use of, 344; 
first election in, 346; courts of, 
organized, 346 ; poor-house of, es- 
tablished, 350 ; preparation to re- 
move the records of, 351 ; Bank of, 
incorporated, 352 ; Institute of 
Science, established, 357 ; statis- 
tics of, 441, 458, 461. 

De Vries, sends the first colony to the 
Delaware, 12 ; goes on a whaling 
voyage and meets with whales, 13 ; 
the fate of the colony at Swanen- 
dael fully revealed to him, 13, 14 ; 
his visit to Fort Nassau, 15 ; voy- 
age of, to Virginia, 16; visit of, 
to Gov. Printz, 36. 

Dial, public, at Chester, 192. 

Divorce, early, asked for on the ground 
of constant strife between the par- 
ties, 79. 

Domestic animals, early introduction 
of, on the Delaware, 33, 34, 80 ; 
cattle and horses to be marked, 151. 

Drought, very severe, 359. 

Drunkenness, becomes a growing evil, 
162. 

Duke of York, grant to the, by his 
brother, 87 ; his grant to William 
Penn, 130 ; proclaimed king, 154. 



Duke's Laws, promulgation of the, 90 ; 
re-established by proclamation, 
100 ; to be in force on the Delaware, 
100. 

DucKETT, Thomas, Friends' meetings 
held at his house, 149. 

DuNOP, Count, repulse and death of, 
at Red Bank, 320. 

Dutch, claim of early discovery by the, 
3 ; protest against the Swedish 
settlement on the Delaware, 22 ; 
jealousy of the, 38 ; land purchased 
from the Indians by the, 42 ; set 
up their national emblem on the 
west side of the river, 42 ; nego- 
tiate with the Indians on the Dela- 
ware, 50; interview of the, with 
Gov. Printz, 51 ; limits proposed 
between the Swedes and the, 55 
conquest of the Swedes by the, 67 
cruelty of the, to the Swedes, 67 
government established on the De- 
laware, 69 ; they surrender to the 
English, 88 ; reconquest by the, 
99 ; establishment of courts on the 
Delaware by the, 99. 

E. 

Earthquakes, early notices of, 248, 263, 
270. 

East Town, organized as a township, 
204. 

Ed&mont, notice of, 400. 

Edmundson, William, early religious 
visit to Upland by, 104. 

Education, first notice of, in Pennsyl- 
vania, 121. 

Election, early return for Chester 
County of an, 1 53 ; by means of 
white and black beans, 172 ; vote 
to be by ballot at the, 180 ; liberal 
party defeated at the, 219; places 
of holding the, 347. 

Elsinborg, Fort, erected by the Swedes, 
31 ; abandoned, 58. 

English, early settlement on the Dela- 
ware attempted by the, 19 ; colony 
at Salem, 27 ; begin a settlement 
on the Schuylkill, 28 ; removal of 
the Salem colony efi'ected, 29 ; 
complaints against the Dutch by 
the, 44 ; conquest of the Dutch by 
the, 99 ; government restored to 
the, 100. 

Episcopalians, early organization of 
the, 202 ; church erected at Mar- 
cus Hook and Chester by the, 207, 
208 ; earliest notice of a burial 
ground owned by the, 211. 

Equity, court of, held, 161. 



INDEX. 



571 



Evans, John, appointment of, as Go- 
vernor, 210; his character, 214; 
false alarm created by, 214 ; un- 
popularity and recall of, 216. 

Essex House, early Quaker meeting 
held at the, 104; by whom erected, 
104. 

Eyre, Eobert, appointment of, as clerk 
of the court, 146. 

F. 

Fabritius, Rev. Jacobus, pass to the 
Delaware granted to the, 94 ; in- 
stalled as the first minister at Wi- 
cacco, 115 ; order of the court for 
the collection of his dues, 124. 

Fairs, Friends appoint a committee to 
have oversight of the youth who 
attend, 222. See Chester and Chi- 
chester. 

Fayette, Marquis de la, wounded at 
the battle of Brandywine, 309, 313 ; 
headquarters of, 311. 

Felons, instructions to Gov. Gordon, 
against laying duties on, 241. 

Females, European, first visit the De- 
laware, 9 ; first settlement of, on 
the Delaware, 33. 

Fence viewers, earliest appointment 
of, 160. 

Ferry, over the Schuylkill supported 
by Friends, 189, 195; one over the 
Schuylkill, a monopoly, 189; a 
road laid out to Chester Creek at 
the, 200. 

Finland, Indian name and location of, 
55 ; plundered by the Dutch, 65 ; 
extent of, 381. 

Finney, Walter, instructs persons in 
the art of making saltpetre, 288. 

Firelocks, number of, to be furnished 
by Chester County, 285 ; to be 
sent to Chester, 290. 

Fire-ships, used in defence of the De- 
laware, 321. 

Fitz Patrick, James, exploits of, 326; 
capture of, 327; conviction and 
execution of, 328. 

Fleet, Provincial, list of vessels com- 
prising the, 289 ; prevents British 
vessels from ascending the Dela- 
ware, 290 ; loss on board of the, 
. 324. 

Foot-way, laid out from Chester to 
Chichester Creek, 179. 

Forbes, General, reprimands a Dutch 
printer, 268. 

Forests, appearance of, in early times, 
258. 



Forge, early erected, 254 ; mentioned 
by Peter Kalm, 258. 

Fort, Nassau erected, 7 ; location of, 
Nassau, 8; Christiha erected, 21; 
Gottinburg and Elsinborg, erected, 
3 1 Manayunk or Schuylkill, erect- 
ed, 38 ; Bever's Rheede, erected, 
49 ; Swedes build in front of Be- 
ver's Rheede, 51 ; Manayunk de- 
scribed, 54 , account of Korsholm, 
54; Casimir, erected, 57; Casimir 
captured by the Swedes, and name 
changed, 61, 63; capitulation of 
Trinity, 66 ; MifHin strengthened, 
291, 299. 

Pox, George, religious visit of, 98. 

Freemen sold into servitude, 186. 

Free Society op Traders, incorpora- 
tion of the, 137. 

French neutrals, provision for the 
distribution and support of, 267. 

Freshets, remarkable, 348, 355, 359 — 
367. 

Friends or Quakers, first to settle in 
Pennsylvania, 104; first meeting 
of, 103 ; first meeting of record, 
134; order a meeting to be held in 
the court-house at Chester, 137 ; 
character ot the early immigrant, 
148 ; permit those not in member- 
ship to marry in their meetings, 
175; support a ferry over the 
Schuylkill, 189, 195; large am- 
ounts appropriated for charitable 
purposes, by, 195; preparative 
meetings established by, 198 ; 
public exposure of delinquents, 
225: first disownment among, for 
insolvency, 232 ; appropriate mo- 
ney to secure the royal assent to 
the aflSrmation act, 236 ; action of 
the, in respect to slavery, 239 ; con- 
duct of, in respect to the French 
invasion, 262 ; disownments for 
taking up arms, 296 ; division of 
the Society of, 357. See Meeting- 
house^ ^urying-ground and Quakers. 

Funerals, large provision at, discou- 
raged by Friends, 240. 



G. 



Geology, of Delaware County, 403. 

Geomancy, the practice of, disallowed 
by Friends, 192; presentment of, 
by the Grand Jury, 193 ; fine im- 
posed by the court for practicing, 
194. 

Germantoavn, battle of, 317. 



572 



/ 

INDEX. 



Gilder, value of the, 108 ; long retain- 
ed as currency, 136. 

GiLEAD, officers appointed for, ]61. 

Goats, introduction of, on the Dela- 
ware, 33. 

GooKiN, Charles, appointed Goyernor, 
217 ; meets the Indians at Cones- 
togo, 219. 

Gordon, Patrick, appointed Governor, 
237; death of, 245. 

Goshen, settlement of, 205; Friends' 
meeting established at, 205, 208, 
210; early settlers of, relieved by 
the Welsh Friends of Haverford 
monthly meeting, 205; road to be 
laid out to, 210; organized as a 
township, 213 ; Friends of, to erect 
a meeting-house, 216; road laid 
out, 230 ; monthly meeting of 
Friends established, 232. 

Gospel, extracts from the history of 
the Society for Propagating the, 
532. 

GoTTENBURG, New, fort at Tinicum, 
built, 31 ; destroyed by the Dutch, 
68. 

Grand Jury, first in Pennsylvania, 136 ; 
early roads laid out by the, 146, 
159, 163 ; official term of the, 161 ; 
puritanical vigilance and imparti- 
ality of the, 161 ; character of the, 
168, 185, 186; watchfulness of 
the, over the interests of the coun- 
ty, 173 ; the foreman of the, pre- 
sented, 181 ; manner of present- 
ments made by the, 185 ; three 
members of the, refuse to serve, 
201 ; term of office abridged, 214 ; 
presents the practice of Geomancy, 
&c., 193 ; certain books presented 
by the, 193 ; presents the neces- 
sity of stocks and whipping-post, 
211 ; presents the old court-house 
as a nuisance, 212. 

Grange, notice of the, 393 ; poem on 
the, 557. 

Grants, abstracts from the most an- 
cient, 520. 

Grave-stones, removal of, ordered by 
Friends, 215. 

Grave-yard. See Burying-ground. 

Gray's Ferry, bridge at, destroyed, 
321. 

Great Battery, erection of the, 257. 

Green, purpose and location of the, 
178 ; boundary and location of the, 
178 ; street laid out along the, 178 ; 
purchased by David Lloyd, 555 ; 
confirmation of title of, 199; no 
burial ground on the, 211. ' 



Guardian, first appointment of a, 108. 

Gun-boats, construction of, 285. 

Gwynedd, Friends' meeting of, estab- 
lished, 208 ; monthly meeting of, 
organized, 222. 

Gypsum, introduction of, as a manure. 
350. 



H. 



Half-Moon, Hudson sails on a voyage 

of discovery in the yacht, I.- 
Hamlet OF Bethel, road laid out to, 
163. 

Harold, Friends' meeting to be held at, 
137. 

Hanson, Mattheys, as a magistrate, 
meets Governor Stuyvesant ai Tin- 
icum, 73. 

Haverford, earliest settlements in, 
148 ; first religious meeting held 
at, 148 ; monthly meeting of, 149 ; 
Friends' graveyard established at, 
149 ; complaint of Friends of, 
against the Indians, 155 ; Friends 
of, contribute toward building Cen- 
tre Square meeting-house, 158 ; 
first meeting-house erected at, 
167 ; people of, refuse to be in- 
cluded in Chester County, 171 ; 
freemen of, vote with those of 
Philadelphia, 172 ; jurisdiction of 
Chester County acknowledged by, 
180; mill erected, 201; anecdote 
of "William Penn going to the 
meeting of, 201 ; road laid out, 
194; College established, 358; no- 
tice of, 393. 

Hayes, Jonathan, acts as a justice of 
the court, 196 ; supposed murder 
of, 223. 

Hazelwood, Commodore, galleys com- 
manded by, silence a battery, 318 ; 
battle of, on the Delaware, 321. 

Health of early colonists, 34. 

Helm, Israel, testimony of, in favor of 
a Swedish purchase of lands from 
the Indians, 24 ; is a trader at Pas- 
sayunk, 79 ; appointed superinten- 
dent of the fur trade, 85 ; visits 
Sweden, 85 ; is appointed Coun- 
sellor, 90 ; asks compensation as 
Indian interpreter, 108. 

Hendrickson, Capt. Cornelis, left in 
command of the- yacht Restless, 4 ; 
report of his discoveries on the 
Delaware, 5. 

Hessians, two executed, 314. 

History, Sewell's, subscribed for, 236. 



INDEX. 



573 



HocHHANMER, Henry & Co., grant of 
land to, 26 : colony established by, 
26 ; object of the establishment of 
their colony, 27, 33. 

Hog Island, purchase of from the In- 
dians, 124 ; Indian name of, 124 ; 
to be overflowed on the approach 
of the enemy, 292, 304 ; attached 
to Chester County, 343. 

HoLKER, Privateer, crew of enlisted at 
•Chester, 332. 

HoLLANDARE, Pbtee, succecds Minuit 
as Governor of New Sweden, 27. 

HoLLiNGSwoRTH, Lydia, mclancholy 
fate of, 393. 

Holme, Thomas, appointed Surveyor- 
General, 133 ; arrival of, 133 ; let- 
ter of, to the Indians, 170. 

Holmes, George, attempts a settlement 
on the Delaware, 19. 

Hoops, the ridiculous fashion of wear- 
ing, by women, condemned by the 
Quakers, 251. 

Horses, introduction of, on the Dela- 
ware, 17 ; race on Sunday, 194. 

HosKiNS, John, trespass of, on the 
county property, 178. 

Hospitals, proposed location of mili- 
tary, 296. • 

House op Correction, keeper of the, 
appointed, 241. 

House of Defence, to be fitted up for 
the court, 114; location of the, 
114, 541 ; lane or street to be left 
to the, 122 ; was the first court- 
house, 150 ; Governor Markham's 
Council sat in the, 150. 

Howe, General, intention of, to attack 
Philadelphia by water, 297 ; a spy 
sent by, to procure pilots, 297 ; en- 
ters the Delaware, 301 ; army of, 
lands on Elk river, 305 ; remarks 
on his plan of the battle of Bran- 
dywine, 309. 

Howe, Lord, commands the British 
fleet, 316. 

HuDDE, Andreas, report of, 32 — 38 ; 
appointed commissary on the De- 
laware, 40 ; quarrels with the 
Swedes, 41 ; is directed to search 
for minerals, 42 ; purchases land 
from the Indians, 42 ; controversy 
with the Swedes, 43 ; dines with 
Governor Printz, 43 : appointed 
Secretary and Surveyor on the De- 
laware, 69 ; placed in command of 
Fort Christina, 72. 

Hudson, Capt. Hendrick, makes two 
unsuccessful voyages, 1 ; discovery 
of the Delaware Bay, 2. 



Hung in Irons, a convict ordered to be, 

232. 
Hunter, Edward, the murder of, 353. 
Hyder Ali, armed vessel, captures the 
General Monk, 338. 

I. 

Immigrants, arrival of, 21, 25, 30, 47, 
62, 70, 103, 118, 132. 

Improvement, a spirit of exhibited, 159 ; 
relative, of the first organized coun- 
ties, 189. 

Independence, disavowed as an object 
of the military Associators, 284. 

Indian Corn, early introduction of, on 
the Delaware, 34 ; to be received 
for taxes, 113, 156. 

Indians, murder of the first colonists 
by the, 14; pretended purchase of 
land from the, by the Dutch, 18 ; 
Swede's purchase of land from the, 
23, 24; Leni Lenape or Delawares, 
35 ; five nations of, 35 ; Minquas, 
35, 36 ; names of the local, 35 ; 
the Dutch invited to occupy the 
lands of the, 48 ; confirmation of 
the alleged Dutch purchase of 
lands from the, 50 ; convocation 
of and treaty with the, at Tinicum, 
63 ; massacre of the Dutch on the 
Hudson by the, 68 ; Swedish ship 
Mercury protected by the, 70; war 
among the, 84 ; war apprehended 
by the whites with the, 95 ; pur- 
chase of land from, by William 
Penn, 144, 155; testimony of 
Friends against the sale of liquors 
to, 166, 167, 227; land extending 
two days' journey west, granted by 
the, 169 ; letter of Thomas Holme 
to the, 170; groundless apprehen- 
sion of a great insurrection by the, 
168 ; visited by an unarmed party, 
169; great uneasiness shown by 
the, 218; interview of the Go- 
vernor with, and significant com- 
plaints of the, 219 ; act to prevent 
the importation of, as slaves, 221 ; 
lands on the Brandywine claimed 
by the, 236, 240 ; grant to the Oke- 
hocking, 209 ; murder of, 238 ; war 
with the Delaware, 265 ; premiums 
oflTered for prisoners or scalps of 
the, 2 65; murder of atLancaster,2 70; 
troubles on account of the, 270; 
dogs employed to hunt the, 271. 

Institute, of science established, 357. 

Interest, rate of, reduced, 234. 

iNToxicATiONjFriends' testimony against 
234. 



574 



INDEX. 



Iron Works, notice of early, 258, 259; 

location of, 260. 
Irons, a criminal hung in, 232. 
Ivy Mills, establishment of first paper 

mill at, 383 ; Catholic mission to, 

241. 



Jail, levy ordered to build a, 150 ; want 
of a, presented by the Grand Jury, 
181 ; new, recommended, 368. See 
Prison. 

James IL, proclaimed King, 154. 

Jurors, number summoned, 226 ; ob- 
jection to sitting as, 228. 

Jury, first in Pennsylvania, 119; sin- 
gular verdict of a, 144 ; of women, 
174 ; indefinite report of a road by 
a, 196. See Grand Jury. 

K. 

Kalm Peter, visit of to Pennsylvania, 
258. 

Karakuns, 38 ; description of, 55. 

Keith, George, caused discord in the 
Society of Friends, 182; testimony 
against, 182 ; adherents to the doc- 
trines of, 198, 216; extracts from 
Journal of, 534. 

Keith, William, appointed Governor, 
227. 

Kellyville, notice of, 387. 

Kennet, township of, organized, 213. 

Kieft, Wilhelm, protests against a 
Swedish colony, 22. 

Kingsesse, seat of Justice removed to 
the town of, 123. 

Kinsessing, location of, 39, 40 ; descrip- 
tion of, 54. 

King's Road, location of the, 167, 215 ; 
presented for not being cleared of 
logs, 173 ; to be sixty feet wide 
from Walter Faucet's fence to Dar- 
by, IS 9; relaid out, 215. 

KocK, Peter, as a magistrate, meets 
Gov. Stuyvesant at Tinicum, 73 ; 
resists the order of the Dutch to 
remove, 78 ; appointed Collector of 
the Customs, 85. 

L. 

Labor, value of, 128, 260; kinds of, 
260. ^ 

Laerson, Neels, court held at his house, 
108; takes in church land, 120; 
stops the way to the Fly, 121 ; or- 
dered to leave a lane to the House 
of Defence, 122. 



Lancaster, county organized and laid 
off, 239 ; road surveyed to, 253. 
See Turnpike. 

Lands, act for the resurvey of, 206 ; 
grant of, to the Okehocking In- 
dians, 209. 

Laws, the Duke's, to be in force on the 
Delaware, 100; newly enacted to 
be read at the court, 199, 200. 

Lead, in great requisition, 291 ; dis- 
tributed to the provincial troops, 
290. 

Libraries, 560. 

Licenses, to keep tavern, granted by 
the Governor, 213 ; singular appli- 
cations for, 242 ; a list of persons 
recommended for, 266. 

Lightning, a young lady struck by, 
390. 

Lime, introduction of as a manure, 350. 

Limestone, road laid out to the, 186. 

Liquors, prohibition of the sale of 
asked for by the Indians, 91, 102 ; 
license to distil required, 94 ; tes- 
timony of Friends against the sale 
of intoxicating, to the Indians, 166, 
167. 

Literature, early, 230. 

Lloyd, David^ appears in court on be- 
half of the Welsh, 180 ; notice of 
the liberal and just views of, 217 ; 
party of, defeated, 219 ; removes to 
Chester, 220; revises a Welsh book, 
231. 

Lloyd, Thomas, appears before the Go- 
vernor and Council on behalf of 
the Welsh, 172 ; acts as Governor, 
154. 

Lock, Rev. Laurence Carolus. See 
Carolus, Rev. Laurentius. 

Logan, James, conduct of, 217. 

Long Finn, insurrection of the, 92 ; 
capture, conviction and sentence 
of the, 92, 93. 

Lotteries, actfor suppressing, repealed 
by the Crown, 271 ; Quaker testi- 
mony against, 271. 

Lottery, proprietaries, for the sale of 
land, 240 ; for the benefit of certain 
churches, 272. 

Lunatic Asylum, a rude one ordered to 
be built, 116. 

Lying, a woman fined by the court for, 
189. 

M. 

Maize. See Indian Corn. 
Manayunk, location of Fort, 54. 
Manhattan, purchase of the Island of. 



INDEX. 



575 



from the Indians, 8 ; population 
of, 10. 

Manufactories, origin of in Delaware 
County, 353 ; number and condi- 
tion of in the year 1833, 356 ; best 
sites for, 404; statistics of, 560. 

Marcus Hook, grant of land to the six 
original inhabitants of, 118, 521; 
name changed to Chichester, 136; 
petition for a market and fairs at, 
199 ; incorporation of, 205, 530 ; 
troops quartered at, 289 ; soldiers 
at, innoculated for the small-pox, 
294 ; rifle battalion marches from, 
308; notice of, 381. 

Markham, William, arrival of, 125^ as- 
sumes his oflSce of Lieut.-Governor, 
128; commission of, 129; council 
of, 129; intervieAY with Lord Bal- 
timore, 129 ; appointment of Jus- 
tices by, 131; presides at the 
Upland Court, 132 ; appointed Go- 
vernor of the three lower counties, 
182 ; appointed Deputy Governor 
of the Province, 192 ; held an In- 
dian slave, 219. 

Marlborough, organized as a town- 
ship, 213. 

Marple, notice of, 392. 

Marriage, illegal, 81, 121, 143, 151 ; 
Quaker plan of, adopted by others, 
1*75; strictness of the court in re- 
spect to, 197 ; by Friends, before 
a Justice, 198; young Friends 
greatly restricted in courtship and, 
198. 

Marriages, vain practices at, 248. 

Martial Law, declared by Congress, 
318. 

Marsh Lands, how held, 121. 

Martin, Walter, singular grant of land 
by, 209. 

Maryland, commissioners of, order the 
Dutch to leave, 76 ; ambassadors 
sent to the authorities of, 76; bor- 
der troubles with, 232, 248 ; com- 
missioners of meet to run the cir- 
cular line, 243 ; order of King and 
Council for settling the boundary 
of, 247, 248 ; preliminary line run, 
247, 248 ; difficulties made by the 
commissioner of, 250. 

Mason and Dixon's Line, final settle- 
ment of, 273, 274. 

Maxwell General, command of, at- 
tacked, 303 ; his position at the 
Battle of Brandywine, 307. 

Meadows, companies of owners of, first 
incorporated, 269 ; military works 
erected on the, 319. 



Measure, a standard of recommended 
by the Grand Jury, 173 ; Winches- 
ter preferred, 173. 

Media, town of named and laid out, 
375 ; notice of, 388. 

Meeting-house, Friends', of Chichester 
erected, 158 ; first, of Haverford, 
167; of Darby, 166; of Chester 
and Radnor, 188; of Radnor, oc- 
cupied with the military, 328 ; old, 
of Chester, sold, 245. 

Meetings, hour of commencement of 
religious, in early times, 267. 

Menonists, a peculiar colony of, 82. 

Mercer, Fort, a garrison placed in, 
317 ; battle at, 320; evacuation of, 
324. 

Mercury, arrival of the ship, in the 
Delaware, 70. 

Merlin Frigate, blown up, 321. 

Mey, Capt. Cornelis Jacobson, visits 
the Delaware Bay, 4 ; erects Fort 
Nassau, 8, 

Middletown, when organized as a town- 
ship, 398 ; notice of, 398 ; present 
by Dr. Watts to the Presbyterian 
meeting of, 398. 

Miles, Col. Samuel, commands on the 
Delaware, 289 ; humane letter of, 
294. 

Militia, call for, 297, 298 ; to encamp 
near Chester, 297 ; eighteen hun- 
dred forwarded, 303 ; call for five 
thousand, to rendezvous at Darby, 
304; in 1814, the draft of, and 
volunteers from Delaware County 
in service, 351, 352. 

Mill Creek, names by which it was 
formerly known. 120. 

Mills, Swede's, 38, 55, 94, 120, 203; 
Hans Moenson's, 120-; Chester, 147, 
563 ; Thos. Cobourn's, 162 ; Haver- 
ford, 167, 191 ; Crosby's, 221 ; Wil- 
liam Davis', 218 ; Darby, 191 ; Con- 
cord, 191 ; early rolling and slit- 
ting mill, 259; order in respect to, 
103 ; Capt. Hans Moenson's to be 
built, 120. 

Minerals, to be inquired for, 42 ; cata- 
logue of the localities of, in Dela- 
ware County, 414. 

MiNSHALL, Thomas, meeting-house to 
be built on land donated by him, 
202. 

Minuit, Peter, appointed Director of 
New Netherland, 8 ; arrival of, with 
the first Swedish Colony, 20 ; pur- 
chase of land from the Indians, 
23 ; death of, 23. 

MoENSON, Hans, resists the Dutch order 



576 



INDEX. 



to move, 78 ; mill to be built at his 
falls, 120. 

MoLESwoRTH James, attempts to pro- 
cure pilots for Lord Howe, 197; 
arrest and execution of, 197. 

Monmouth, Duke op, arrest of one sup- 
posed to be concerned with the, 
159. 

Monthly Meeting, first minute of Ches- 
ter, 134; Haverford regulates se- 
. cular afipairs, 188, 195. See Friends 
and Meeting-house.- 

Mud Island, Fort on, erected, 269 ; ex- 
penditure on account of, 277. 

Mulberry, white, introduced, 276. 

Municipal Districts, early established, 
151, 161. 

N. 

Naaman, speech of the Indian Chief, at 
Tinicum, 64. 

Nassau, Fort, erected, 7 ; location of, 
8; visited by De Vries, 15, 16; 
English attack on, 19; razed, 57. 

Necromancy, young men dealt with by 
Friends for practicing, 192. 

Negroes, proportion of, to the whites, 
261 ; Friends deal with their mem- 
bers for buying and selling, 272 ; 
special tribunal for trying, 273, 
556 ; education of, 347. 

Negro Slaves, introduction of, 33 ; be- 
come more general, 80 ; in great 
demand, 85. 

New Amstel, Fort Casimer to be called, 
70. 

New Amsterdam, surrender of, to the 
English, 87. 

New England, sufferers from Indian 
depredations in, relieved by the 
Qualiers, 195, 282. 

New Gardrn, organized as a township, 
213. 

New Holm, location of, 51. 

New Leyden, location of, 85. 

New Netherland, privilege of trading 
to, granted, 3 ; Directors of, 8, 17, 
21. 

Newspaper, first, published in Delaware 
County, 354. 

New Sweden, Governors op, 27, 30 ; 
trade of, 37 ; arrival of Swedish 
vessels at, 47 ; conquered by the 
Dutch, 67 ; restoration of demand- 
ed, 85. 

New Town, Friends' Meeting established 
at, 194; meeting-house erected at, 
218, 220; notice of, 396. 

Nicolls, Col. Richard, commands the 



English expedition for the reduc- 
tion of New Netherland, 87 ; acta 
as Governor, 89. 

Noble, Richard, appointed Surveyor of. 
Upland County, 123. 

Northby, location of, 161 ; officers ap- 
pointed for, 161. 

Nottingham, Friends' meeting esta- 
blished at, 215 ; meeting-house 
erected at, 218. 



Oath op Allegiance, those who refuse 

to take the, disarmed, 301. 
Offices, county, served by the best 

men, 276. 
Okehocking Indians, grant of land to, 

209. 
Optlandt, Fort, erection of, 13. 
Orphan's Court, first held under that 

name, 164; appraisement under 

the, 174: manner of holding the, 

181; duties of the, 182. 
OssET, GiLLis, as agent jiurchased land 

from the Indians at Cape May, 12 ; 

Commissary at Fort Optlandt, 13 ; 

unjustly charged with killing an 

Indian chief, 14. 

P. 

Papegoya, John, recommended to Gov. 
Printz and marries his daughter, 
37 ; acts as Governor, 58; returns 
to Sweden, 63. 

Papegoya, Mrs. Jepfru Armgard, con- 
tinues to reside on the Delaware, 
69 ; petitions Gov. Stuy vesant for 
favors and protection, 71 ; taxes of, 
79 ; sells the Island of Tinicum, 
84; Printzdorp confirmed to, 91 ; 
implicated in the Long Finn insur- 
rection, 92 ; applies to Gov. Love- 
lace for favors, QQ ; lawsuit for the 
recovery of Tinicum, 97. 

Paper Money, first issue of in Pennsyl- 
vania, 234 ; not current in other 
Provinces, 235 ; effects resulting 
from the issue of, 251 ; amount of, 
in circulation, 259 ; great depre- 
ciation of, 332, 333, 336. 

Paoli, massacre at, 316. 

Passayonk [Passayuuk], Indians of, 
invite the Dutch to occupy their 
lands, 47 ; Fort Bevers Rheede 
built by the Dutch at, 48 ; grant of, 
to Swen Schute, 59; patented by 
Gov. Nichols, 523 

Patroonships, established on the Dela- 
ware, 11. 



INDEX. 



577 



Patents, Surveys and Grants, ab- 
stracts from the more ancient, 520. 

Paxton and Donegal, alarm caused by 
insui'gents from, 270. 

Peace-Makers, appointment of, 144; 
report of, 151 ; office held by, 157. 

Pearson, Thomas, suggests a new name 
for Upland, 139; his place of resi- 
dence, 170. 

Penn, Hannah, death of, 243. 

Penn, John, Thomas, and Richard, be- 
come joint proprietors, 243 ; arri- 
val of Thomas, 243 ; arrival of 
John, 244 ; return of Thomas, 252 ; 
charge against the Chester Court 
by John, 256. 

Penn, William, his grant from Charles 
II., 125; his letter to the inhabi- 
tants of Pennsylvania, 129; first 
arrival of, 139 ; his visit to New 
York, 139 ; purchase of land from 
the Indians, 144; presides at Ches- 
ter Court, 143 ; resides for a time 
at Chester, 146 ; presides at the 
trial for witchcraft, 152 ; returns 
to England, 154; deprived of his 
government, 185 ; warrant of sur- 
vey from, for the Welsh Tract, 164 ; 
government restored to, 192 ; abuse 
of, 199 ; second visit of, to Penn- 
sylvania, 200; anecdote of, 201; 
final return to England, 206 ; ne- 
gotiates a sale of the Province, 
221 ; illness of, 221 ; death of, 228. 

Philadelphia, commission to lay out, 
133 ; yellow fever at, 200 ; Chester 
County contributes to the defence 
of, 295 ; occupation and evacuation 
of, by the British, 316, 331. 

Pieterson Evert, observations of, 73. 

Pillory, standing in, introduced as a 
punishment, 174. 

Pirates, alarm, caused by, 229 

Plants, catalogue of the Delaware 
County, 417. 

Plowden or Ployden, ridiculous claim 
of, 60. 

Population, 77, 114, 128; rapid in- 
crease of, 164; large proportion of 
the, composed of Friends, 175 ; an 
estimate of the, 233 ; large in- 
crease of the, 242, 245, 286 ; pre- 
sent, of Delaware County, 441. 

Poor, Friends provide for the support 
of their own, 148. 

PooR-HousE, establishment of the De- 
laware County, 350 ; removal of 
the, 376. 

Pork, to be received for taxes, 113. 

Post-Boy, newspaper established, 379. 

37 



Potter, General, service of, 318 ; great 
vigilance of, 322 ; letter from, 325. 

Pound, public, at Chester, 232 ; at As- 
ton, 232 ; at Birmingham, 402. 

Powder, first mill erected, 290 ; other 
mills to be built, 291 ; orders 
drawn for, 296. 

Preachers, very numerous amongst 
Friends, 220. 

Preparative Meetings, of Friends es- 
tablished, 198; to some extent, to 
be meetings of record, 264, 265.- 

Printzdorp, when the grant of was 
probably made, 47 ; location of, 
83 ; confirmation of, to Mrs. Pape- 
goya, 91. 

Printz Hall, site of, 31. 

Printz John, instructions to, as Go- 
vernor of New Sweden, 29 ; cha- 
racter and qualifications of, 29, 30, 
36; arrival of, 30; selects Tini- 
cum as the seat of his government, 
31 ; character of colonists brought 
by, 32 ; salary, 36 ; Tinicum grant- 
ed to, 36, 519; military force of, 
40 ; controversies with the Dutch, 
41, 43, 47; protest of, against 
Hudde, 43 ; return of, to Sweden, 
58. 

Prison, to be erected, 150; order of 
court in respect to the, 156; why 
little used, 157 ; uew one ordered 
to be built, 181, 184, 204; uew one 
erected, 207 ; grated door for the, 
216. 

Prisoner, sold into servitude for jail 
fees, 234; petition of a, to be sold 
into servitude, 234 

Privateer, alarm caused by one in the 
Delaware, 256 ; one exchanged 
shots with New Castle, 257. 

Provincial Convention, assembling of 
the, 282 ; delegates from Chester 
County to the, 282 ; to form a State 
Constitution, 292. 

Providence, name of, first appears, 146 ; 
application for a road to Chester 
from, 146; first religious meeting 
held in, 148 ; particular notice of, 
387. 

Province, proposed sale of the, 221. 

Province Island, Indians removed to, 
for safety, 270'; battle near, 318 ; 
sold to redeem paper money, 338. 

Public Improvements, in Delaware 

County, 376. 
PuGH Ellis, writes a Welsh book, 231. 
Punishment, corporal, introduced, 157 
first sentence of imprisonment, 157 
new modes of, introduced, 173 



578 



INDEX. 



increased severity of, 179; cruelty 
of, in some cases, 186 ; corporal, 
becomes more common, 197. 
PusEY Caleb, appointment of, as ma- 
nager of Chester mills, 147 ; peti- 
tions against the erection of Co- 
bourn's mill, 161 : supposed to 
have volunteered to meet the In- 
dians, 168. 

Q. 

Quadrupeds of Delaware County, ca- 
talogue of, 434. 

Quakers, military supplies taken from 
the, 319 ; position and conduct of 
the, during the revolutionary war, 
339 ; unjust suspicions against the, 
340 ; schools established by the, 
349 ; action of, against the use of 
intoxicating drinks, 349 ; excep- 
tion to the sitting of, as jurors in 
a murder trial, 238 ; disabilities of 
the, removed. 229. See Friends, 
Meetings, and Burying Grounds. 

Quarterly Meeting, of' Friends, first 
held in Chester County, 148 ; pro- 
test of the, against the Welsh 
Friends being united with the Phi- 
adelphia, 197. 

Queen Anne, proclaimed, 209; death 
of, 222. 

Quit Rents, order of Gov. Andros in 
respect to, 119; payment of, to be 
rigorously exacted, 146 ; appeal of 
Griffith Owen against the exaction 
of, on the whole Welsh Tract, 177. 

R. 

Radnor, Friends' Meetings established 
at, 158 ; people of, refuse to be an- 
nexed to Chester County, 171; 
people of, vote with the freemen 
of Philadelphia, 172; first meeting 
house erected in, 188 ; present 
meeting-house of Friends erected 
in, 227 ; constable of, refuses to 
serve, 173; jurisdiction of Ches- 
ter County extended over, 173; 
Friends' meeting-house occupied 
by the militarj^, 328 ; proposition 
to annex the township of, to Mont- 
gomery County^ 354 ; notice of, 
395. 

Railroad, first in the United States, 
389. 
, Rain, great storm of, 213. 

Rambo, Peter, meets Gov. Stuyvesant 
at Tinicum, 73 ; is appointed Coun- 
sellor, 90. 



Records, of the county removed to a ■ 
place of safety, 300, 336 ; of the 
county prepared for removal, 351. 

Red Bank, battle of, 320. 

Redemptioners, 348. 

Removal, question of, in Delaware 
County, first agitated, 354 ; ques- 
tion of again agitated, 368. 

Restless, yacht, built, 3. 

Revel, Thomas, acts as clerk of the 
court, 131. 

Revolution, measures adopted prepara- 
tory to the, 278 ; meetings in Ches- 
ter County prior to the, 278, 279, 
281 ; committee of correspondence 
appointed, 280 ; manumission of 
slaves recommended, 283 ; military 
associations formed, 283. 

Ridley, Friends' Meeting established at, 
137 ; notice of, 388. 

Roads, earliest provision in respect to, 
102; to be made from neighbor 
to neighbor, 120; appointment of 
overseers of the, 124; supervisors 
of the, 135, 157, 183; several of 
the earliest, laid out, 146, 159, 167, 
190 ; a bridle road from I\Iarcus 
Hook to Chester, 190 ; first appoint- 
ment of six men to lay out, 199 ; 
first assessment of damages on ac- 
count of laying out, 217 ; width of, 
fixed by the court, 207 ; toll-gates 
authorized on the southern post 
road, 349. 

Roman Catholics, first misson of the, 
241 ; enumeration of the, 267. 

Rye, to be received for taxes, 113, 156. 

Rysingh, John, appointed Governor of 
New Sweden, 60 ; grant of land to, 
61 ; arrives in New Sweden, 61 ; 
captures Fort Casimir, 62 ; con- 
ference of, ■with the Indians at 
Tinicum, 63 ; writes home for a 
wife, 65 ; refuses the restoration of 
Fort Christina, 67. 



Safety, Committee op, appointed, 285 ; 
reorganized, 286 ; frequent meet- 
ings of the 287 ; application of the, 
for powder, 289 ; duties of the, 
closed, 293. 

Safety, Council of, pay for firelocks, 
289 ; duties of the, 293 ; resolves 
of the, 295 ; eff'orts of, relaxed, 302 ; 
order of the, to procure blankets 
for the Army, 319. 

Salt, great scarcity and careful distri- 
bution of, 295; price of, 295. 



INDEX. 



579 



Saltpetre, a desideratum, 287 ; per- 
sons instructed in the art of mak- 
ing, 288. 

Sandelande, James, promises land for 
a court-house and prison, 160. 

Sandy Bank, purchase of grave-yard 
lot, 179; meeting-house proposed 
to be built at, 202. 

ScHEPEL, measure of a, 113. 

Schools, attention of the Societj^ of 
Friends turned to the subject of, 
183 ; established by the Friends, 
347, 349. 

ScHUTE, Lieutenant Swbn, conveyance 
of land to, 59 ; at the capture of 
Fort Casimir. 62 ; surrenders Fort 
Trinity, 66 ; meets Gov. Stuyves- 
ant at Tinicum, 73. 

Schuylkill, claim to the discovery of 
the,- 4 ; alleged purchase of lands 
at, by the Dutch, 17; location of 
Forts on the, 38, 39. 

Seat op Justice, first act for the remo- 
val of the, 336 ; second removal 
act passed, 340 ; removal act re- 
pealed, 341 ; court-house erected 
at the Turk's Head, 341 ; destruc- 
tion of the court-house threatened 
by the anti-removalists, who march 
from Chester, 343 ; a third removal 
act passed, 343 ; removal of the, 
efi^ected, and sale of the old build- 
ings, 343 ; removal of, in Delaware 
County first agitated, ,354; ques- 
tion of removal again agitated, 
369 ; act passed providing for a 
vote by the people on the question 
of, 371 ; result of the vote on 
removal, 373 ; confirmatory act 
passed, 375 : decision of the Su- 
preme Court on the constitution- 
alty of the first removal act, 375. 

Sellers, Nathan, makes a military 
survey along the Delaware, 300. 

Senate, list of members from Delaware 
County, 528. 

Sentences, of the court, 212 ; change in 
the, 226; severity of, 230 ; for se- 
ditious words, 262. 

Servants, their rights protected and 
ages determined by the court, 186, 
193 ; time of service of the ab- 
sconding, extended, 191. 

Shackamaxon, Indian conference at, 1 09. 

Sharon, boarding-school, 386. 

Sheck Sidi, gains the confidence and 
sympathy of Friends, 247. 

Sheriffs, keep tavern, 227 ; election- 
eering advertisement, 274; security 
of, 275; list of, 529. 



Sickness, on the Delaware, 34, 75 ; ge- 
neral prevalence of, 258. 

Silk, large production of, 275, 276. 

SiMcocK, John, old court-house sold 
to, 194. 

Slander, of officials punished, 174. 

Slavery, act for the gradual abolition 
of, 334. 

Slaves, first introduction of, 11, 33; 
demand for, 85 ; act to prevent the 
importation of Indian, 219 ; an act 
to prevent the importation of Negro 
and Indian, 221 ; law imposing a 
prohibitory duty on, repealed by 
the Crown, 269 ; price of, 261 ; ac- 
tion of Friends in respect to, 223, 
224, 241, 268, 273, 277, 296 ; regis- 
try of, 335 ; registry of Indian, 335. 

Small-pox, among the Indians, 80. 

Snow-storm, in May, 349. 

Speech, freedom of, restricted, 174. 

Springfield, notice of, 390. 

Squirrels, number of, and the amount 
paid for their destruction, 259. 

Stamp Act, passage of the, 272; repeal 
of the, 273. 

Statistics, of Delaware County, 558 ; 
agricultural, 558, 559 ; religious 
and literary, 560. 

St. David's Church, 396, 532. 

St. Martin's Church, when named, 
382. 

St. Paul's Church, Queen Anne's gift 
to, 377. 

Stille, Oloff, delivers a protest against 
the action of the Dutch, 43 ; place 
of, 55 ; meets Gov. Stuyvesant at 
Tinicum, 73 ; is suspected by 
Beekman, whom he opposes, 79 ; 
visits Maryland, 79. 

Stocks, first mentioned as an imple- 
ment of punishment, 181 ; neces- 
sity for, at Chester presented, 211 ; 
set up at Marcus Hook and Darby, 
242. 

Strasburg, road laid out to, and re- 
viewed, 275, 277. 

Streets laid out in Chester, 167, 174, 
178. 

Strong House, location of the Swedes, 
40. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, succeeds Kieft as 
Director General, or Governor, 45 ; 
protest of, sent to Gov. Printz, 47 ; 
advises planting colonies on the 
Delaware, 55 ; negotiates with the 
Indians on the Delaware, 56 ; 
builds Fort Casimir, 57 ; recap- 
tures Fort Casimir, 66 ; meets 
Swedish officials at Tinicum, 73. 



580 



INDEX. 



Substitutes, employment of military, 
in the Revolution, 299. 

Sunday, travelling on, presented by the 
Grand Jury, 167 ; horse race on, 
194; servile labor on, 216. 

Surveys, grants and patents, abstracts 
from ancient, 520. 

Suspected persons, removed to the in- 
terior, 301, 303. 

SwANENDAEL, patroonship of, 12 ; colo- 
ny at, murdered, 14; re-transferred 
to the West India Company, 19. 

Swedish Colony, proposal of a, 10 ; 
proposal revived, 17; arrival of 
the first, 20 ; settlement of a, at 
Christina, 21 ; about being aban- 
doned, 23, 25 ; relieved, 26 ; esta- 
blished at Tinicum, 31 ; character 
of the, 33 ; conquest of the, 67 ; 
administration of justice in the, 69. 

Swedes, refusal of, to settle together, 
72, 77 ; mill erected, 38 ; strong 
house built, 40 ; first to purchase 
the soil of Delaware County from 
the Indians, 24, 56 ; sovereignty 
of the, ended, 68 ; distrusted by 
the Dutch, 69, 73, 75, 86 ; convey- 
ance of their church land in Ches- 
ter, 555. 

T. 

Tax, first levy of, 112; first levy for 
Chester County, 144, 150; for the 
destruction of wolves, 163; Pro- 
vincial, laid, 201, 204; Friends re- 
luctant to pay Provincial, 208 ; 
amount of, 233, 245, 331, 333 ; 
none levied, 269, 274; difficult to 
collect, 330 ; collection resisted 
and collector murdered, 334. 

Taxables, list of, 113, 534; number of, 
233, 245. 

Taylor, Isaac, runs, the circular line, 
205. 

Test, John, conveys land in Upland, 
117. 

Thornbury, notice of, 401. 

Time, regulation of, 143 ; old and new 
style, 261. 

Tinicum, residence of Gov. Printz, 31 ; 
granted to Printz, 36 ; church at, 
consecrated, 40 ; Indian treaty at, 
63; plundered by the Dutch, 67; 
visited by Gov. Stuyvesant, 73 ; 
sold, 84 ; suit for and recovery of, 
97 ; a second suit for, and recovery 
of, 145 ; modern fort on, 299 ; mea- 
dows put under water, ,324; con- 
stituted a township, 337 ; property 
confiscated on, 338. 



Titles, repudiation of, 143. 

Tobacco, cultivated on the Delaware, 

34 ; exported, 38. 
Todmobden, 388. 
Tombstones, removed by the Friends, 

215; inscriptions on, 3 7 7, 385,396, 

397, 399. 
Tom, William, appointed collector of 

quit-rents, 92. 
Topography of Delaware County, 403. 
Tories, property of, confiscated, 330. 
ToRKiLLUS, Rev. Reorus, 25, 34. 
Townships, see names of; legislation 

by, 188, 189. 
Trade, early, of the Delaware, 37, 
Traders, Free Society of, 137. 
Treason, Commissioners of attainder, 

330 ; number attainted of, 330. 
■Trenton, battle of, 296. 
Trinity Fort, name of Casimir changed 

to, 63 , capture of, 66. 
Turk's Head, court-house built at the, 

341. 
Turnpike, incorporation and cost of 

the Lancaster, 346. 
Turnpikes and Plank Roads, recently 

constructed, 376. 

U. 

Upland, first appearance of the name 
of, 49 : Indian name and early de- 
scription of, 54 ; plundered by the 
Dutch, 67 ; earliest notice of a 
court at, 96 ; first court of, 107 ; 
conveyance of land in, 117 ; six 
inhabitants of, 1 18 ; extent of the 
county of. 111, 125, 136; first 
court of, under Penn's govern- 
ment, 131: name of, changed, 139. 

Upland Court, establishment of the, 
108 ; expenses of, 112 ; names and 
residences of justices of, 123 ; 
jurisdiction of, 125, 128 ; general 
observations on, 126,127; under 
Markham's administration, 130. 

Utie, Col., on behalf of Maryland, or- 
ders the Dutch to leave, 76. 

UwcHLAN, Friends' meeting established 
at, 220. 

V. 

Valley Forge, encampment at, 328 ; 

outpost encampment of, at Radnor, 

328. 
Verdict, strange, 144. 
Villa Nova, 396 
Village Green, British army encamp 

near the site of, 313. 



INDEX. 



581 



Votes, fifty or sixty given by the free- 
men of Haverford and Radnor, de- 
clared to be illegal, 172; given 
viva voce and by black and white 
beans, 172. 

Volunteers, Delaware County Fenci- 
bles and Mifflin Guards in service, 
352. 

w. 

Wade, Lydia, William Penn lodges at 
her house, 200. 

Wade, Robert, arrival and settlement 
of, 103 ; meetings held at his 
house, 104, 134. 

Wagons, military, to be sent from Ches- 
ter County, 298. 

Wampum, used as a currency, and value 
of, 53, 108. 

War, between England and France, 
256 ; meetings in Chester County 
preparatory to the Revolutionary, 
278, 281; of 1812, part taken by 
the people of Delaware County, 
351. 

Washington, General, force and posi- 
tion of, a-t the battle of Brandy- 
wine, 305 ; his letter to Congress 
announcing his defeat, 309 ; head- 
quaters of, at the battle of Brandy- 
wine, 310 ; orders of, 320 ; unjustly 
suspects the Quakers, 340. 

Watts, Rev. Isaac, present to the Mid- 
dletown Presbyterian Church, 398. 

Wayne, Gen. Anthony, his position at 
the battle of Brandywine, 307 ; 
attack on, at Paoli, 316 ; stationed 
at Mountjoy, 329. 

Weights and Measures, standards of, 
procured, and regulator of, ap- 
pointed, 253. 

Welsh, settlement of the, 147 ; desire 
of the, to be included in one mu- 
nicipality, 164; retain their lan- 
guage and peculiarities, 181 ; set- 
tlements of the, extended, 205. See 
Haverford and Radnor. 

Welsh Tract, origin of the, 164 ; au- 
thorized to be laid out, and war- 
rant of survey for the, 164 ; boun- 



daries, 165 ; intended for a muni- 
cipal district, 165 ; Thomas Lloyd 
contends for making it a Barony, 
or County Palatine, 172 ; quit- 
rents demanded for the whole, 176; 
Griffith Owen contends against 
any violation of the conditions 
contained in the grant by Penn, 
177. 

West House, 391. 

West India Company, Dutch, incorpo- 
rated, 5 ; established patroonships, 
11 ; agree to supply colonists with 
blacks, 11 ; Swedish, incorporated, 
10. 

West Town, township organized, 212. 

Whales in the Delaware, 13, 15. 

Wharton, Walter, appointed surveyor 
on the Delaware, 115; marries, 
himself, 121. 

Wheat, received for taxes, 112, 156 ; 
price of, 128. 

Whigs, many captured* 330. 

Whitfield, George, preaches to large 
assemblies, 252. 

Wicacco, church to be built at, 102. 

William and Mary, proclaimed King 
and Queen, 175 ; accession of, in- 
jurious to the interests of Wm. 
Penn, 176 ; death of William, 209. 

Williams, Dunk, suit against, for teach- 
ing his children to read, 121. 

WiLLCOx, Thomas, establishes a paper 
mill, 383 ; first Catholic mission at 
his dwelling, 241. 

Winter, a severe one, 73. 

Winter, John and Walter, kill three 
Indians, their trial and execution, 
238. 

Witchcraft, trial for, 153. 

Wolves, 108, 111, 116; number of, in- 
crease, 121. 



Year, the period of its commencement, 
261. 

Z. 

Zetzcoven, Rev. Albelius, preaches 
at Tinicum, 87. 



ERUATA. 



Page 43, line 5, for forbidded, read forbid. 

•' 113, the names from that of Peter Nealson to Arian Andries inclusive, 
belong to the Tacony District. 

208, line 15, for Bounty, read County. 

209, line 15 and 32, for Okekocking, read Okehocking. 

408, line 8 from the bottom, for " up the river," read " up from the river " 
421, for Carota, read Carota. 

'■ 429, for botryoides, read botryoides. and for Rhyjichosjwra, read Rhynchos- 

PORA. 

" 466, for " as 1685," read " as early as 1685." 

4^9, line 2 from the bottom, for " 1696 and 1699," read " 1796 and 1799." 
542, line 22, for '• authoratively," read "authoritatively." 



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